Evening Briefing: Europe

The European Union has approved a new package of sanctions on Russia, including restrictions on banking and fuels made from Russian petroleum, and a revised oil price cap – the 18th raft of measures since the country’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. The new controls will cut around 20 more Russian banks off from the international payments system SWIFT and blacklist a large oil refinery in India, which is partially owned by Russia’s state-run oil company.

The deal was initially blocked by Slovakia, until the country last night accepted guarantees from the European Commission that would limit the fallout from a planned cut off of Russian gas.

The UK today separately sanctioned 18 people it accused of spying for Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, who it said had conducted cyber and hybrid warfare operations against Britain and Ukraine, including online reconnaissance to help target missile strikes.

The UK could join together with European powers in a Donald Trump plan to purchase US military equipment for Ukraine. British and German defense ministers are set to talk during a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Monday. —Helen Chandler-Wilde

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit the UK next week to sign a landmark trade deal between the countries. The agreement would slash tariffs on cosmetics, cars, and alcohol, amongst other goods, helping India and the UK to reduce disruption in the wake of protectionism from the US. The trading relationship is currently worth around £42.6 billion, and the deal – the UK’s biggest new agreement since Brexit – was signed in May and is likely to take around a year to become effective.

Barcelona will limit port space for cruise ships in a new bid to tighten up tourism to the city. The number of cruise ship passengers increased by 20% from 2018 to 2024, part of a general increase in tourism to the city which has recently led to fierce protests from residents. The move is less restrictive than some other measures the city has taken, including last year promising to ban all short-term rentals by 2029.

Meta Platforms said it won’t sign the code of practice for Europe’s new set of laws governing artificial intelligence, calling the guidelines to help companies follow the AI Act overreach. “Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI,” Meta’s head of global affairs Joel Kaplan said in a post on LinkedIn. The EU published the voluntary framework earlier this month. It is meant to help companies put processes in place to stay in line with the bloc’s sprawling AI Act, and includes copyright protections for creators and transparency requirements for advanced AI models.

The EU has agreed to open talks on strategic ties with six Gulf states, aiming to create bilateral Strategic Partnership Agreements that will broaden its international influence amid tariff threats from the US. Negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – are expected to begin as soon as possible, and will touch on issues from security to energy.

Cryptoassets’ total market value surged past $4 trillion for the first time, as the US legislature ends so-called “Crypto Week,” when the first-ever federal legislation for stablecoins was passed. The path to Bitcoin being worth $150,000 now looks “increasingly inevitable,” according to Fadi Aboualfa, head of research at Copper.

Burberry’s sales fell less than predicted, as the turnaround plan from CEO Joshua Schulman begins to deliver returns for the British fashion house. Analysts had expected a 3.7% drop in comparable store sales in the second quarter of the year – but a statement published today showed it was in fact 1%. At yesterday’s close, shares were up 27% from the start of the year – yet the company warned that the luxury slowdown in China, as well as trade tensions, mean the macroeconomic picture is still uncertain.

Burberry trench coats in 2023 Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Zara founder Amancio Ortega’s private investment firm is on a shopping spree buying a string of trophy assets which will shield him from tax. Ortega’s family office Pontegadea has spent $500 million in the last three months buying a five-star Paris hotel, a Florida apartment block and a building on Barcelona’s iconic Diagonal Avenue. Future transactions include a potential deal to buy a $275 million office building in Miami. The shopping blitz coincided with Ortega, who is worth around $103.7 billion, receiving a multi-billion annual dividend from Inditex, the retail giant owner of Zara that he founded over six decades ago.