.
Europe
Hungary
25.06.2025 Speaking ahead of NATO leaders meeting in The Hague, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán today called for a revision of the EU's budget regulation framework, warning that no member state would be able to meet NATO’s 5% of GDP defense spending target under the current rules. Orbán said the biggest threat Europe faces today is not military, but economic. "The real threat is not security wise, it's economic and losing our competitiveness on the global trade." "I think Russia is not strong enough to represent a real threat to us. We are far stronger," he added. On Ukraine, he said: "NATO has no business in Ukraine. Ukraine is not member of NATO, neither Russia. My job is to keep it as it is." (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Ukraine
25/06/2025 - 13:40 Russian missile strikes killed at least 26, injured over 200 on the city of Dnipro yesterday. (Source: France 24)
United Kingdom
25.06.2025 In a statement, the UK government said 350 ASRAAM air defense missiles will be provided to Ukraine using £70 million (approximately $95.2 million) raised from interest on seized Russian assets. The move comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Defense Secretary Healey travel to The Hague, the Netherlands, for an annual NATO leaders' summit. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Asia
Gaza
Jun 25, 2025 11:36 AM EDT 7 Israeli troops were killed in Gaza bombing as Palestinian officials say Israeli attacks kill 79. Over 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza. Gaza health authorities had announced yesterday that the number of Palestinians killed in the war has risen above 56,000. (Source: PBS / AP = U.S.)
Iran, Israel
2:40 a.m. CEST June 25 Israel and Iran claim victory as cease-fire takes hold. (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)
Turkey
25.06.2025 Turkish President Erdogan, Trump discuss regional, bilateral issues at NATO summit in The Hague. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
North America
United States
25.06.2025 US President Trump said today that NATO allies' commitment to defense spending equal to 5% of member state’s gross domestic product will add 'more than $1 trillion a year' 'to collective defense'. Trump said the achievement represents dramatic progress from the previous 2% target, crediting his direct pressure on allies. "A couple of them came up to me, one in particular, said we've been trying to get it up to 3% for 20 years, we haven't been able, and you got it up to 5%,' he said. Trump identified Spain as "just about the only one" not committed to the 5% target, calling them "the most hostile" toward the increase. 'I'm going to negotiate directly with Spain. I'm going to do it myself. They're going to pay,' he said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
25 June 2025 Yet it appears that, early in his second term, Trump came under pressure from both the Israeli government and the neocons in his administration, who convinced him that he could take a middle route: smashing this long-term adversary while avoiding another extended military debacle; assisting Israel without indulging its desire for sustained conflict. The goal, it seems, was a limited mission that would procure Iran’s ’unconditional surrender’, winding down its nuclear programme and further weakening its regional position. This policy was forced through over the objections of less interventionist Republicans in the president’s inner circle. Trump’s ceasefire deal was announced on 23 June as evidence that his approach has succeeded: hobbling Iran while containing a wider conflagration. Yet his declaration of “peace” turned out to be premature. While the US was desperate to broker this short-term solution, Israel remains set on its long-term objective of an all-out war that would draw in the hegemon. Even if Tel Aviv accepts a temporary pause in the hostilities (which can hardly be taken for granted, given its flouting of similar agreements in Gaza and Lebanon), it nonetheless sees the past two weeks as a significant stride towards meeting this ambition: a test-case which suggests that, when push comes to shove, America will intervene on Israel’s side, even if this threatens to undermine its own geopolitical priorities. Secure in this knowledge, Israel can wait until the moment is right to manufacture another crisis and force a further reckoning. In the meantime, it can simply deploy the same tactics it has used against Hezbollah, launching semi-regular strikes to keep Iran in check and prevent any rebuilding of its defensive capability. Where is Europe in the equation? Since the eruption of conflict in Ukraine and Gaza, the fantasy of European ’strategic autonomy’ has been exposed as precisely that. The EU and UK have reaffirmed their subservience to American power, at the cost of both their energy security and moral credibility, while embarking on a frenzied armament drive to bolster „the West’ against its civilisational enemies. More than ever, the continent has been reduced to an enclave of empire. (Source: The New Statesman - United Kingdom)
by Eagleton
(June 25, 2025) 15:57 Closed-door meeting between U.S. President Trump and Zelensky at the NATO summit lasted 50 minutes. (Source: JFeed - Israel)
2:09 AM CEST, June 25, 2025 Early report says US strikes only set Iran’s nuclear program back months. (Source: AP - U.S.)
(June 25, 2025) Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245bn of gold home from US. (Source: Financial Times - United Kingdom)
NATO
(June 25, 2025) Nato leaders meeting in The Hague have agreed to ramp up defence spending to 5% of their countries' economic output by 2025, following months of pressure from US President Trump. The commitment to raise defence spending over 10 years involves at least 3.5% of each member state's GDP on defence expenditure by 2035, plus up to 1.5% on a broadly defined series of investments loosely connected to security infrastructure. In a statement they said they were united against profound security threats and challenges, ’in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security’ and the persistent threat of terrorism. Secretary General Rutte said ’decisions made today would include continued support for Ukraine’ while pushing for peace. The leaders also said they were reaffirming their ironclad commitment to collective defence. The Hague summit, was due to last only two and a half hours, with a short communique agreed at the end. In their final communique, Nato member states stressed their commitments to providing support for Ukraine, ’whose security contributes to ours’, adding that direct contributions to Kyiv's defence and its defence industry would be included in assessment of allies' defence spending. Trump was due to meet Zelensky on the sidelines afterwards. The US president was more keen to talk about conflict in the Middle East than the war in Ukraine, when he spoke to reporters today. "He's got a little difficulty, Zelensky, a nice guy’, said Trump. "I've spoken to Putin a lot... he volunteered help on Iran. I said do me a favour, help us on Russia, not Iran." (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)
Pacific Ocean
Wednesday, June 25, 2025 The leaders of the three key U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific did not join President Trump at this year’s NATO summit in the Netherlands - a reversal of their previous stances. Australia, Japan and South Korea are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but their leaders have attended the annual summits by special invitation since 2022. None accepted NATO’s invitation this year. Each nation offered different reasons for its non-attendance, but foreign policy experts are pointing to Washington’s America First agenda as the common cause. In Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese turned down the NATO summit as he was unable to secure a bilateral meeting with Mr. Trump. Defense Secretary Hegseth urged Australia to raise its defense spending from 2% of GDP to 3.5%, Mr. Albanese shot back, “We’ll determine our defense policy.” Bilateral tensions hang over the most expensive defense program in Australian history, the $239 billion AUKUS - the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The deal will see the U.K. and the U.S. supply Australia with nuclear attack submarines. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was unable to win any concessions on U.S. tariffs at the unhappy meeting with Mr. Trump early last week at the Group of Seven summit in Canada. 25% U.S. tariffs set to apply to Japanese goods on July 8. On Friday, Japan canceled a meeting between its and the U.S.’ senior defense and foreign affairs officials in Tokyo. The issue: U.S. demands that Japan raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP. Japan pledged to double defense spending to 2% in 2022. NATO also has irked Japan. Japanese media reported that the opening of a NATO liaison office in Japan - a plan supported by Mr. Ishiba - had been shelved for unclear reasons. South Korean President Lee took office on June 4. As an opposition politician, Mr. Lee had criticized U.S. troops in Korea as an occupying force and stood accused of being anti-Japan and pro-China and pro-North Korea. Mr. Lee has never been pro-NATO or pro-Ukraine. In February 2022, Mr. Lee said: “In Ukraine, a novice politician of six months became president and declared accession to NATO, which provoked Russia and eventually led to a clash.” On June 15, 2025, his administration said no new aid for Ukraine was planned. (Source: The Washington Times - U.S.)
.5 6 25 17:08
