EsadeGeo Daily Digest, 29/06/2023

Financial Times – Max Seddon, Polina Ivanova, Anastasia Stognei and Felicia Schwartz / Vladimir Putin freezes out hardliners after Wagner mutiny

• Vladimir Putin has moved to shake up Russia’s security services in the wake of the Wagner group’s failed insurrection, rewarding loyalists with promotions and freezing out figures sympathetic to the paramilitary organisation’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. 
• Sergei Surovikin, a senior Russian general known to have a good relationship with Prigozhin, has not been seen since recording a hostage-style video in the early hours of Saturday morning as the mutiny began, according to several people familiar with the matter. 
• The unexplained absence of one of the most prominent commanders in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine comes as Putin seeks to restore order and re-establish control over the security services after the first coup attempt in Russia in three decades, said the people. 
• While Putin has dropped charges against Wagner, Russia’s security forces “have started shaking down sympathisers and those who violated their oath”, said a person who has known Prigozhin since the 1990s. The warlord has held up his end of the deal and moved to Belarus, according to Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

The Guardian – Lisa O’Carroll / EU mulls levy on frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine reconstruction

• The EU is considering imposing a levy on interest made from frozen Russian cash that could raise about €3bn a year to help Ukraine’s recovery from the war.
• A “windfall contribution” will be discussed by EU leaders at a European Council summit on Thursday and Friday in an attempt to harness the value of sovereign Russian funds immobilised by sanctions.
• The idea was mooted in the past three weeks after Germany objected to a more aggressive option involving the management of assets that range from luxury yachts to shares, artworks and Russian sovereign funds.
• “The aim of sanctions is to change behaviour, not to punish,” said one diplomat. “You can’t just put the money into your own coffers. Sanctions are a judicial construction that respects the rule of law.”

Financial Times – Sam Jones / Switzerland vetoes export of 100 tanks to Ukraine despite never using vehicles

• Switzerland has vetoed a plan to export nearly 100 mothballed Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, citing neutrality laws for a decision made just as Kyiv’s counteroffensive enters a decisive phase. 
• Bern’s veto is likely to spark anger among Switzerland’s European allies, who for months have been pressing the government to relax its restrictive interpretation of a long-cherished neutrality policy. 
• The tanks have never been in service in Switzerland, were never intended for use by the Swiss military and are not based in the country. All 96 are stored in Italy, having been acquired in 2016 from the Italian military in a private transaction by the Swiss arms manufacturer Ruag. “The Federal Council has concluded that the sale of the 96 tanks is not possible under [Swiss] law as it stands. 
• In particular, such a sale would contravene the War Materiel Act and would result in a shift from Switzerland’s policy of neutrality,” the Federal Council — the seven-person executive arm of the Swiss government — said on Wednesday afternoon.

The Washington Post – Matt Viser and Cleve R. Wootson Jr. / Embracing ‘Bidenomics’, president seeks to turn insult into strength

• On Wednesday, the president delivered a major speech on his economic vision, with an eye toward the 2024 campaign. It followed a four-page memo from senior advisers that highlighted the concept, with subheads including “Bidenomics is working” and “The American people strongly support Bidenomics.”
• The Old Post Office in Chicago where Biden spoke was festooned with American flags and posters trumpeting Bidenomics, a term the White House embraced this week as a shorthand for the president’s policies, which Biden said are focused on helping the middle class.
• “This vision is a fundamental break with the economic theory that has failed Americans for the last four decades now,” Biden said. “The trickle-down failed the middle class. It failed America. People working as hard as ever couldn’t get ahead.”
• Instead, Biden touted policies that he said have helped average Americans and created millions of jobs, including a bipartisan infrastructure bill and legislation to increase computer chip manufacturing. Earlier this week, Biden announced a $42 billion effort to expand internet access across the country.

Our opinion reads for today:

• Politico – Kaja Kallas / Let’s build a combat-effective Europe
• Financial Times – Mairead McGuinness / The case for a digital euro