(Bloomberg) – Group of Seven finance chiefs and central bank governors wrap up a meeting near Bonn on Friday, with funding for Ukraine front and center. Russia’s war in Ukraine is also shadowing US President Joe Biden as he heads to South Korea and Japan.

Biden on Thursday welcomed Congress’s passage of $40 billion in aid for Kyiv and announced that a new arms package he said would be sent “straight to the front lines.” NATO’s secretary general said he hoped applications from Finland and Sweden to join the bloc could soon be accepted despite initial opposition from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A senior Kremlin official has said Russia intends to take all of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions even as the campaign on the ground struggles after heavy losses.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian sanctions dashboard.)

Key developments

• Scholz’s push to make Germany a real military force is problematic
• Senate approves $40 billion for Ukraine aid, sends it to Biden
• Yellen says secondary sanctions on Russian oil being discussed at G-7
• Biden backs Finland and Sweden’s NATO bids as Turkey swings keys
• A business with royal brilliance helped Abramovich expand his wealth
• Bacon, chicken and beef won’t be cheaper anytime soon

Every hour CET:

Steady Flows From Russia Push Gas Prices Down (8:30 a.m.)

Natural gas prices in Europe fell again on Friday as rising inventories and stable Russian supplies countered some risk on new Russian payment rules. Benchmark first-month Dutch futures fell 3.3% to 88 euros per megawatt-hour, heading for a weekly loss of 9.1%.

Gas inventories in Europe are rebounding to near seasonal levels as companies brace for any potential disruption from Russia, the continent’s biggest supplier. Russian gas shipments to Europe on Friday are expected to be flat.

Russian forces in Mariupol will need major renovation, UK says (8:11 a.m.)

Russian forces involved in the long-running campaign to capture the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol are likely to be sent alongside Donbass, the British military said on Twitter.

“Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol since the start of the war means that Russian forces in the region need to be re-equipped and refurbished before they can be redeployed effectively,” the UK said. “It can be a long process when done thoroughly.”

Analysts from the US Institute for the Study of War said Moscow’s forces in Ukraine “continue to suffer from reserve manpower shortages, forcing the Russian military command to shore up battalion battle groups exhausted”.

Oligarchs avoid Spanish party islands as yachts face seizure (7:59 a.m.)

Russian tycoons are skipping the Balearic Sea – best known for the resort islands of Mallorca and Ibiza – to avoid having their megayachts seized.

A single ship linked to a sanctioned Russian tycoon was spotted in the region this spring after Russia invaded Ukraine and imposed sanctions, according to analysis for Bloomberg News by Spire Global Inc., which provides data maritime intelligence.

Wildfires near Chernobyl pose no radioactive threat, Ukraine says (5:47 a.m.)

Forest fires near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant do not pose a radioactive threat, Ukrainian officials have told the International Atomic Energy Agency, its director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement. The agency accepted Ukraine’s assessment.

Last week, Ukraine restored full remote transmission of Chernobyl safeguards data, after a two-month hiatus caused by the Russian invasion.

War, Drought and Disease Hammerhead Breeders (6 hrs)

Soaring crop and energy costs in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine have compounded the woes of livestock farmers, even as they battle everything from droughts limiting pastures to bird flu outbreaks from North America to Europe that wiped out millions of poultry.

Affected from all sides, many farmers are selling livestock or raising less, which shows that production will be capped in the longer term.

British consumer confidence plummets (2 a.m.)

British consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in at least 48 years with a spike in the cost of living, among the downstream effects of the war in Ukraine, leaving people gloomier than in the depths of the crisis energy of the 1970s and during the recession more than a decade ago.

US, UN Mull Grain Export Plan, says WSJ (1:26 a.m.)

The United States and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are discussing plans for a possible export of Ukrainian grain by rail through Belarus to the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials not identified. The United States could offer a six-month suspension of sanctions to the Belarusian potash fertilizer industry, the newspaper said.

Belarus’ main potash producer, which accounts for about a fifth of the world’s supply, was hit with US sanctions last year to limit the financial benefits President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime derives from exports.

German Scholz urges former Chancellor to quit Russian jobs (8:42 p.m.)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has ratcheted up pressure on his predecessor Gerhard Schroeder to quit his lucrative jobs as chairman of Russian oil giant Rosneft PJSC and the shareholders’ committee of Nord Stream AG after Ukraine invaded Ukraine. Russia.

Schroeder served as chancellor from 1998 to 2005, but the former leader became an embarrassment to his party for refusing to cut his close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and state energy companies in Moscow.

Biden welcomes $40 billion in aid, offers more weapons (8:12 p.m.)

The Biden administration announced $100 million in military aid to Ukraine, including artillery, radar and other equipment, ahead of the $40 billion Ukraine aid package that will was sent by Congress on Thursday.

Biden said the package “will allow us to send even more arms and ammunition to Ukraine, replenish our own stockpile, and support the United States. troops stationed on NATO territory. The Pentagon said the equipment will include 18 155mm howitzers, their carriers and three counter-artillery radars. Defense Ministry spokesman John Kirby said artillery was proving “critical” equipment for Ukrainian forces. He said the $100 million exhausted existing “drawdown” authority over US stocks.

The latest deliveries will bring the total amount of US military aid provided to Ukraine since the Russian invasion to $3.9 billion.

Senate Sends Biden $40 Billion Ukraine Aid Package (7:34 p.m.)

The U.S. Senate passed a more than $40 billion Ukraine aid package on an 86-11 bipartisan vote, sending the measure to Biden for his signature.

The legislation is significantly larger than the $33 billion package Biden requested last month but received overwhelming support. Although some Republicans in the House and Senate opposed increasing the deficit by sending more money abroad or criticized Biden’s strategy, most backed the Democratic president’s call for more money. aid to Ukraine.

NATO Brass hosts Sweden and Finland (7:31 p.m.)

NATO’s top military brass welcomed membership applications from Sweden and Finland, saying aspiring members would enhance the alliance’s security because of their land mass, modern capabilities and already high level of integration with allies.

When asked how difficult it would be for the alliance to defend the vast geographical areas, archipelagos and forests of the two countries, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, US General Tod Wolters , said, “We see these attributes as huge opportunities to improve our ability to fully deter.

Russian forces will take all of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kremlin says (6:18 p.m.)

Russian forces will take Ukrainian territory to the ‘historic borders’ of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and ‘demilitarize’ nearby areas, a senior Kremlin official has said, reconfirming Moscow’s ambitious war goals even as its troops struggling to advance against heavy Ukrainian forces. resistance.

Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy chief of the presidential cabinet, did not indicate a timeline for the takeovers during a televised meeting with youth groups. Occupation authorities in Russian-held territories have hinted that they are likely to seek annexation by Moscow.

The Kremlin’s public statements about its goals have changed over the months since the February 24 invasion. President Vladimir Putin then declared that Russia did not plan to occupy Ukraine. Since then, officials have drawn up plans to permanently hold at least the territories occupied by Russian forces to the east and south. Ukraine has refused to hand over land in stalled peace talks.

Russian military leader speaks by phone with US general: Interfax (5:21 p.m.)

Russia’s top military officer Valery Gerasimov discussed the war in Ukraine over the phone with US General Mark Milley, Interfax reported, in the first known direct contact between senior commanders since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.

The Department of Defense statement quoted by Interfax did not provide any details about the conversation, other than to say that it was initiated by the United States.

Last week, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for an immediate ceasefire in his first discussion since the invasion with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, the Pentagon said May 13. Gerasimov, considered one of the most powerful defenders of the war in the Russian leadership, has not been seen in public recently.

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