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Brussels says Nord Stream will stay shut after the war in Ukraine, rejecting a route back to Russian gas.

The US has also sanctioned Rwanda’s defence ministry, while Poland will host a new servicing centre for Patriot air defence missiles.

Read more below ⤵️

1️⃣ 🇺🇸 🇷🇼 US sanctions Rwanda’s defence ministry: The US sanctioned Rwanda’s defence ministry and a military-linked bank over alleged support for M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo. Rwanda denies backing the rebels and says commitments to neutralise the rival FDLR militia remain unmet. Congolese authorities welcomed the sanctions.

2️⃣ 🇨🇦 🇪🇺 Canada-EU draft drops membership language: A draft Canada-EU summit declaration seen by Reuters replaces proposed associate membership with closer association after objections led by Germany. It proposes a study of Canadian LNG exports to Europe and new subsea cables, as Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks deeper European ties.

3️⃣ 🇷🇺 Putin offers closer African ties: President Vladimir Putin offered expanded grain and fertiliser supplies, infrastructure investment and manufacturing cooperation at a Russia-Africa summit in Moscow. Delegations from 48 countries attended, including 22 African leaders, as Russia seeks greater influence and closer economic ties across the continent.

4️⃣ 🇧🇷 🇺🇸 Flávio Bolsonaro arrives in Miami: Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro arrived in Miami with his family after travelling through Argentina and Ecuador. The senator, who is under Supreme Court investigation, denies wrongdoing and has refused to concede to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. His Liberal Party has accepted the result.

5️⃣ 🇵🇱 🇺🇸 Poland wins Patriot servicing centre: The US selected Poland to host a €227 million European servicing centre for PAC-3 Patriot air defence systems, beating bids from Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. It would be the only such facility outside the US. Negotiations with Lockheed Martin are still needed before it can open.

🇪🇺 🇷🇺 Brussels rules out Nord Stream restart

The European Commission ruled out a Nord Stream restart after the war in Ukraine, pushing back against reported US and Russian plans to revive gas flows.

EU energy spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said the bloc’s phase-out of Russian gas applies regardless of any peace agreement.

The pipeline links Russia and Germany and is already under EU sanctions.

Existing legislation will end remaining Russian pipeline gas contracts by September 2027.

Changing those rules would require a new Commission proposal and a qualified majority of member states.

1️⃣ 🇧🇪 Cyberattack disrupts Belgian tax services: Belgium’s finance and tax agency took MyMinfin and other online services offline after a cyberattack while it investigated and secured its systems. Some filing deadlines have been extended, with revised dates still to be announced. The agency says it has found no indication of a personal data breach so far.

2️⃣ 🇺🇦 🇳🇱 Ukraine and Netherlands launch Bliksem: Ukraine and the Netherlands have begun work on a joint air defence project called Bliksem, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten in The Hague. The leaders also discussed defence production and energy cooperation, alongside talks with Dutch defence, energy and software companies.

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