Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, on July 21, 2023 with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on the screen. (KREMLIN POOL PHOTO VIA AP)

MOSCOW/KYIV – Europeans are seeing that providing ceaseless support to Ukraine does not serve their own interests, but only benefits the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, as Russian navy carried out a live fire exercise in the Black Sea.

The Russian drill came days after the Kremlin declared it would consider ships traveling to Ukraine through the waterway potential military targets.

"We are seeing that public opinion in Europe is changing. Both Europeans and … European elites see that the so-called support for Ukraine is serving foreign, rather than European interests, the interests of the global hegemon, which is benefiting from the weakening of Europe," Putin said at a meeting with permanent members of the Russian security council, cited by the Kremlin.

He noted that Europeans are seeing that their endless support for Ukraine is in fact a "waste of money and effort," and only benefits the US that wishes to prolong the Ukraine crisis.

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It is questionable whether Washington's policies in Ukraine actually serve the fundamental interests of the American people, added the Russian leader.

Live fire exercise in Black Sea

A missile boat from Russia's Black Sea Fleet carried out live firing of anti-ship cruise missiles at a target ship in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, Russia's defense ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

"The target ship was destroyed as a result of a missile strike," it said.

After pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal, the Kremlin said it would consider cargo ships destined for Ukraine via the Black Sea potential military targets

Ships and fleet aviation had also worked out actions to isolate the area temporarily closed to navigation, and also carried out a set of measures to detain offending ships, it said without specifying exactly where the exercise had taken place.

After pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal, the Kremlin said on Wednesday it would consider cargo ships destined for Ukraine via the Black Sea potential military targets.

Moscow on Wednesday also banned traffic on the northwestern and southeastern parts of the sea.

Ukraine also said it had prohibited navigation on "the northeastern part of the Black Sea and the Kerch Strait" near Crimea, making navigation in most of the Black Sea perilous for vessels.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the country's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vadym Prystaiko.

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On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces are using US-supplied cluster munitions, said the White House.

The US provided the weapons to Ukraine for the first time earlier this month.

The weapons, which disperse up to several hundred small explosive charges that can remain unexploded in the ground, are banned by many countries because of the long-term risks they pose to civilians.

In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on July 21, 2023, a warship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet fires a missile while taking part in naval drills in the Black Sea. (RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE VIA AP)

Telling illustration

Foreign Policy magazine criticized on Wednesday that Washington's controversial decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions is a telling illustration of liberalism's limitations as a guide to the US' foreign policy.

"The administration's rhetoric extols the superiority of democracies over autocracies, highlights its commitment to a 'rules-based order', and steadfastly maintains that it takes human rights seriously. If this were true, however, it would not be sending weapons that pose serious risks to civilians and whose use in Ukraine it has criticized harshly in the past," the report said.

"But as it has on other prominent issues, those liberal convictions get jettisoned as soon as they become inconvenient. This behavior shouldn't surprise us: When states are in trouble and worried that they might suffer a setback, they toss their principles aside and do what they think it takes to win."

When they turn to foreign policy, liberals tend to divide the world into good states (those with legitimate orders based on liberal principles) and bad states (just about everything else) and blame most if not all the world's problems on the latter, it said.

Nationalization of Russia-linked bank

The Ukrainian government on Friday adopted a resolution to withdraw the Russia-linked Sense Bank from the market and nationalize it, said the cabinet's press service.

"The procedure of the bank's nationalization, including the appointment of a new management, will be ensured as soon as possible for its smooth operation," reads a government statement.

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The Ukrainian Finance Ministry will temporarily take control of the bank, and seek to attract private investors once the martial law in the country comes to an end, it said.

The resolution was adopted after the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) proposed to nationalize the bank, saying that the owners of the financial institution are Russian citizens, who were put under Ukrainian and international sanctions.

Sense Bank, formerly known as Alfa Bank, is among the largest financial institutions in Ukraine, and is included in the NBU's list of systemically important banks.

Ukraine imposed a series of sanctions against Russian companies and individuals due to the Ukraine crisis.