The Pentagon is set to scrap plans to supply Germany with Tomahawk missiles

The Pentagon is expected to abandon plans to supply Tomahawk missiles to Germany, partly because US officials fear Moscow might view this as an escalation – a dramatic reversal of an agreement reached with one of Washington’s key allies. According to two European officials and one US official, the United States fears Russian retaliation should precision-guided missiles be deployed in the heart of the continent, but such a decision would deprive Berlin of defences that German leaders say are urgently needed.

This decision is part of a broader US withdrawal from NATO, which includes cancelling the deployment of thousands of troops to Germany and withdrawing certain assets. General Alexus Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander and head of US forces in Europe, said this week that America intends to “refocus” its equipment and forces elsewhere.

US officials are also concerned about dwindling weapons stocks, with thousands of Tomahawk and Patriot missiles having been used up in the first weeks of the war against Iran. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Congress that it would take “months and years” to replace these munitions. Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself had admitted that he did not expect to receive these missiles, due to a lack of availability: “The Americans don’t have enough for themselves.”

Berlin has been hit hard by this withdrawal, following the cancellation in the spring of the deployment of 5,000 US troops. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has been waiting for a year and a half for a response to his request to purchase Tomahawks. Germany is now exploring European alternatives to address its long-range strike capability shortfall, in the face of Russian forces that have deployed Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad and Oreshnik in Belarus, capable of reaching Europe in a matter of minutes. Politico

🇺🇦 Ukraine • A Russian drone strike has left four people dead and seven injured in the Kyiv region, hitting a food processing plant that produced baby milk formula, Ukrainian officials announced today. Two people may still be trapped under the rubble. Moscow is presenting its recent strikes as retaliation for a drone attack – which Kyiv denies – that killed 21 people at a boarding school in the occupied Luhansk region.

🇷🇴 Romania - 🇺🇦 Ukraine • A Ukrainian maritime drone exploded this morning in the port of Constanța on the Black Sea, self-destructing without causing any casualties. Kyiv acknowledged that the drone, which had been diverted by Russian electronic jamming, was one of its own, and had warned the Romanian authorities in good time. Three other drones self-destructed or exploded offshore, and around a thousand people were evacuated.

🇷🇺 Russia - 🇺🇦 Ukraine • Vladimir Putin has stood firm on his position regarding Ukraine, asserting that his army is gaining ground and demanding that Kyiv cede the Donbas, whilst describing Donald Trump’s proposals as “positive”. Volodymyr Zelensky has published an open letter proposing a face-to-face meeting in Switzerland, Turkey or an Arab country, and says he is ready for a ceasefire whilst negotiations are underway. The Kremlin replied that the Ukrainian president could come to Moscow “at any time”, a suggestion he has rejected. Ukraine recaptured around 282 km² from Russian forces in May.

🇩🇪 Germany - 🇷🇺 Russia • An AfD MP, Markus Frohnmaier, the far-right party’s spokesperson on foreign affairs, met in St Petersburg with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev, both of whom are subject to sanctions, in defiance of warnings from Berlin. Discussions focused on the Nord Stream pipeline and a full resumption of Russian gas supplies to Germany.

🇲🇪 Montenegro • Meeting in Tivat for an EU-Western Balkans summit, European leaders advocated a “faster and more credible” enlargement process. France and Germany proposed “gradual integration”, allowing candidate countries that have aligned with certain policies to gradually join EU structures. Montenegro and Albania are emerging as the frontrunners, with Brussels suggesting that Montenegro could join by the end of 2028, 20 years after submitting its application.

🇦🇲 Armenia • The European Union is set to allocate a €50 million economic aid package to Armenia, in response to Russian trade restrictions which Ursula von der Leyen has described as “economic coercion”. Yerevan, which in 2025 passed a law launching its EU accession process, is holding parliamentary elections on Sunday, with pro-Western Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan the favourite against several pro-Russian parties.

🇸🇪 Sweden • Sweden and ten other EU or Schengen Area countries have asked the European Commission to tighten and harmonise the issuing of tourist visas to Russians, the number of whom has risen despite the war in Ukraine, from 440,558 in 2024 to 477,878 in 2025. The Swedish Minister for Migration described it as “senseless” to see Russian tourists enjoying Europe whilst Ukrainians are dying on the battlefield.

🇪🇸 Spain • Revelations are mounting regarding an alleged unit within the Socialist Party tasked with interfering in investigations targeting associates of Pedro Sánchez. The Prime Minister has insisted he was “never aware” of such a unit, which the judge describes as an organisation designed to “destabilise” any proceedings involving the PSOE. The right-wing opposition is calling for early elections and the resignation of the head of government, who is due to address MPs before the end of June.

🇦🇱 Albania • Thousands of Albanians have once again demonstrated in Tirana against a proposed €1.4 billion luxury tourist complex being developed by Affinity Partners, the company owned by Jared Kushner (Donald Trump’s son-in-law), near the Vjosa-Narta protected area. Waving inflatable flamingos, the protesters denounced the threat to the environment and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has given his blessing to the project.

🇷🇺 Russia • Russia plans to launch its own, more compact version of Elon Musk’s Starlink system in 2027, the head of Iks Holding announced at the St Petersburg Economic Forum. Its subsidiary, Bureau 1440, has already placed 16 satellites in low Earth orbit and is aiming for a total of 900, compared to over 10,000 for SpaceX. Starlink remains banned in Russia, where the use of its equipment is punishable by fines.

🇦🇫 Afghanistan - 🇸🇴 Somalia - 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka • The war in the Middle East is pushing millions of people towards famine by driving up food and energy prices, the World Food Programme has warned. The situation is particularly serious in Afghanistan, where 17.4 million people could be affected, in Somalia, where a third of the population is at risk, and in Sri Lanka. Due to a lack of funding, the WFP will have to cut its aid to 1.5 million beneficiaries this year.

🇨🇳 China - 🇺🇸 United States • China has denounced “slanderous” remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had stated, on the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, that “no amount of censorship can erase the past”. Beijing has accused Washington of distorting history and interfering in its internal affairs. In Hong Kong, activist Chan Po-ying was arrested near Victoria Park, a flower in her hand.

🇨🇳 China - 🇰🇵 North Korea • Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea on Monday and Tuesday, his first visit to the country since 2019 and his first overseas trip of 2026. He will meet Kim Jong-un for a bilateral summit, having hosted Donald Trump in May and then Vladimir Putin. Analysts see this as a move by Beijing to reaffirm its central role on the peninsula, at a time when Pyongyang has strengthened its ties with Moscow and announced an “exponential” increase in its nuclear forces.

🇨🇳 China - 🇳🇿 New Zealand • New Zealand is set to raise its concerns with Beijing after four of its MPs were barred from entering China, Hong Kong and Macao in retaliation for a visit to Taiwan last month. The one-year ban targets three MPs from the governing coalition and one Labour MP. Beijing has indicated that it could be lifted if the MPs apologise.

🇮🇳 India - 🇻🇪 Venezuela • Narendra Modi received Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, as New Delhi seeks to strengthen its energy ties with Caracas. India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, is stepping up its purchases of Venezuelan crude to offset disruptions linked to the war in the Middle East and the near-blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Venezuela became its third-largest supplier this month.

🇨🇺 Cuba - 🇺🇸 United States • Washington has imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, his wife and members of the Castro family, including Raul Castro’s son and grandson, stepping up pressure on the island. The Trump administration is tightening its oil embargo and threatening tariffs on any country supplying oil to Havana. Donald Trump, who has previously spoken of wanting to “take control” of Cuba, has said he intends to “deal with” it once the Iran issue has been resolved.

🇨🇦 Canada • Canada has launched its national strategy on artificial intelligence, dubbed “AI for All”, to reduce its dependence on foreign suppliers and create 250,000 jobs over five years. Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that this dependence creates “real risks” regarding access to Canadian data and that “AI could be used as a weapon against us”. The country plans to rely on leading companies such as Cohere and on European allies who share its values.

🇻🇪 Venezuela • The transfer of prisoners from El Helicoide, a Caracas prison synonymous with torture and political detention, is fuelling uncertainty over its permanent closure. Acting President Delcy Rodriguez had ordered its closure following the capture of Nicolas Maduro in January. Since then, 1,280 political prisoners are reported to have been released according to official figures, with more than 400 remaining in custody according to the NGO Foro Penal.

🇮🇱 Israel - 🇱🇧 Lebanon • Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has rejected the new ceasefire announced in Washington yesterday, demanding a total withdrawal of Israeli forces, whilst Israel continues its strikes in southern Lebanon. Israeli bombardments have claimed 3,558 lives since 2 March, including seven overnight in Tyre. Lebanese leaders have called on Iran to stop interfering in the country: “This is not your country, it is ours,” said President Joseph Aoun, with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam refusing to allow Lebanon to serve as a “battlefield” for others. The UN has more than doubled its appeal for donations, seeking nearly $640 million to assist 1.4 million people.

🇮🇷 Iran • Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei claimed that the US and Israel had suffered a “bitter setback”, whilst negotiations between Washington and Tehran have stalled over the issue of Lebanon and the fate of Iran’s highly enriched uranium. Donald Trump deemed an agreement possible this weekend. On the ground, clashes have resumed around the Strait of Hormuz: Kuwait accused Iran of an attack on its airport, which left one person dead and 63 injured, a claim Tehran denied, stating it had targeted military bases.

🇸🇴 Somaliland • Violent fighting broke out overnight between government forces and opposition militias in Mogadishu, exacerbating the political crisis sparked by a constitutional amendment extending President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term by one year. Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire accused the head of state of seeking to kill him. The government stated today that it had restored order and disarmed the militias, with the planned demonstration against the president ultimately not taking place.

🇧🇫 Burkina Faso • Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s junta has intensified its crackdown on dissenting voices, arresting the influential imam Mohamad Ishaq Kindo, along with worshippers and students critical of the regime. A student union has been suspended and its leader arrested. Almost four years after the coup, jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State still control a large part of the country.