“Russia is trying to send a message that it is omnipotent and can disturb our societies . . . to instigate fear and to find ways to make our lives miserable. It is also testing our response, because if we don’t respond these attacks are going to increase.” on.ft.com/4bJL7KY

My latest on why Biden et al are prepared to risk allowing Ukraine to use US weapons inside Russia - and current western thinking about how to handle Russian nuclear threats on.ft.com/3Rc2zzt

An update on a story I've followed and reported on for years: I can now report that American Craig Lang's extradition fight in Ukraine has ended. The right-wing extremist and ex-Army soldier who fought in Ukraine in 2015-16 and is charged with robbing and killing a Florida couple

FT job alert: come and help me run the FT's flagship investment column as deputy head of Lex in London. You can write, edit, and contribute across the FT more broadly. Get in touch to discuss. DEADLINE: June 17th
boards.eu.greenhouse.io/financialtimes…

It appears that Defense Minster Belousov is putting on the MOD civilian “uniform” too? He could have done away with this practice. As a reminder, his predecessor Shoigu gave himself “Victory Day parade participant” medals.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, on our story:

'It's totally normal for each side to defend their own interests [....] we have no doubt all the necessary agreements will be made.

'As far as aspects of ongoing commercial negotiations go, they are, of course, not public.'

In Singapore, Volodymyr Zelensky has accused China of helping Russia to pressure countries not to attend a planned peace summit this month, as Ukraine’s president urged other Asian leaders to join the event.
Story with Demetri and Joe Leahy. ft.com/content/6ff9ec… via Financial Times

More evidence of growing cooperation on defense between China and Russia: a Chinese state trade body sought to buy drone-jamming equipment for Russian buyers last month. Weeks later, Dmitry Medvedev inspected the wares.

with Joe Leahy Sun Yu

ft.com/content/99520f…

“Over the past few weeks Ukraine came to us and asked for permission. . . that went right to the president. And as you heard, he has approved the use of our weapons for that purpose,” Secretary Antony Blinken said on Friday in Prague ft.com/content/cae8f2… @ft w James Politi & Christopher Miller

Germany announced on Friday that it was following the US in allowing Ukraine to use German-supplied weapons to attack military targets in Russia. ft.com/content/cae8f2… via Financial Times

“Russia is beating western capitals in securing artillery supplies on international markets, the Czech government has said, warning that delayed payments to arms companies could lead to millions of ammunition rounds being sent to Moscow instead of Kyiv.”
on.ft.com/3WZty57

Our Financial Times story has been updated to include details about the timeline of the US decision:
-Ukraine requested permission on May 13 to use US weapons against targets in Russia that were being used for its assault on Kharkiv region.
-The request was made during a video call that

Comment from Andriy Yermak on our story today: on.ft.com/3yFsn0F

🚨 big scoop 🚨 Ackman goes full on MAGA, the latest Wall St big wig to drop the Democrats in favor of the nationalists and isolationist Republican presidential candidate Trump - as one private equity executive put it: Trump is a “no-brainer . . . we’ll get richer if he wins”

The US is close to signing a new bilateral security pact with Ukraine, aiming to assuage Kyiv after “tense” relations that some officials say have hit their lowest ebb since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Christopher Miller Henry Foy James Politi report: ft.com/content/966970…

Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)