Swedish authorities said on Friday they were investigating a damaged cable that was discovered in the Baltic Sea, the latest in a string of recent incidents of ruptured undersea cables that have heightened fears of Russian sabotage and spying in the region.

Russian officials and some major companies view Russia’s current trade partners, including China and India, as more predictable and don’t expect a restoration of pre-war economic ties with the West, a person close to the Kremlin and several business people told Bloomberg.

President Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia said on Friday that he had held “extensive and positive discussions” with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the three-year war with Russia and praised the Ukrainian leader as an “embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that the U.S. is prepared to either ramp up or take down penalties based on the Kremlin’s willingness to negotiate.

A news conference that was planned to follow talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy was canceled Thursday as political tensions deepened between the two countries over how to end the almost three-year war with Russia.

Russia and Belarus will hold a joint military exercise in September, officials said Thursday, part of efforts by the two neighbors and allies to expand their military ties amid the fighting in Ukraine.

Spain, Germany and Belgium would face the biggest public-finance hit among European Union countries if NATO raised its defense spending target by a percentage point, according to Scope Ratings.

The proposed fund is meant to accelerate the build-up of the NATO member’s combat capability and could also help with additional military support for Ukraine. Denmark spent 2.4% of GDP on defense last year, above the existing 2% target for NATO members.

Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he “better move fast” to negotiate an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or risk not having a nation to lead. The rhetoric from Trump toward Ukraine comes amid an escalating back-and-forth between the two presidents and rising tensions between the U.S. and much of Europe over Trump’s approach to settling the conflict.

The European Union’s top diplomat touted joint bonds as an option to massively rebuild the bloc’s military might, while criticizing the Trump administration’s early negotiating tactics on resolving Russia’s war in Ukraine.