Russian Invasion

Sanctions
Russian Anger at US Sanctions: “An Act of War”

The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that the US’s new oil sanctions are countering the aim of creating peace in Ukraine, writes Reuters.

Combined with the canceled summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the sanctions are perceived as an act of war against Russia, according to Dmitry Medvedev, former president and now deputy head of Russia’s Security Council.

“The US is our enemy, and its talkative ‘peace brokers’ have now fully embarked on the warpath against Russia,” he writes on Telegram, referring to Trump.

Called: “It’s getting harder for Putin to finance the war”

All EU member states have now approved the union’s 19th sanctions package against Russia, writes Reuters.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult for Putin to finance the war,” writes EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on X.

The sanctions target, among other things, more suspected ships in the so-called shadow fleet and also mean a faster phasing out of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).

At the same time, the US has announced that new sanctions against Russia are in the pipeline. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj describes the sanctions from both the EU and the US as “very important”.

Swedish reactions
“When Jas is delivered, Putin is in The Hague or Ukraine is finished”

Today’s editorial is about the Jas Gripen deal with Ukraine.

Dagens Industri’s Frida Wallnor sees the deal for up to 150 fighter jets as a triumph for Saab, positive for Sweden and a victory for all of Europe. Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, many have been reluctant to buy American planes, writes Wallnor, which has been favorable for Saab.

At the same time, it is only a declaration of intent so far. The first Gripen plane can be delivered in three years at best.

“Hopefully the war will be over by then, Vladimir Putin will be brought before the war crimes tribunal in The Hague and the reconstruction of Ukraine will have begun,” she writes.

Sydsvenskan instead asks itself “whether the country will even be around on the day the fantastic planes” start being delivered. Urgent help is needed now, writes the editorial page. And even though Gripen is important, Ukraine needs more than just aircraft from Sweden:

“In the long term, relations and cultural exchange between the countries are also important to keep the commitment to Ukraine’s cause alive.”

Expert: Trump could stop the Gripen deal

Ukraine’s purchase of Swedish Jas Gripen planes could be stopped by the US. Martin Lundmark, a lecturer at the Swedish National Defence University, tells TV4 Nyheterna.

The plane contains components from the US General Electric, which means that the US has veto power over sales to third countries. At the moment it is unclear how Donald Trump will react to the deal.

– He is very capricious and unpredictable and fluctuates in his priorities around Ukraine, around Russia, around Europe and around NATO, says Martin Lundmark.