US President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday discussed the training of Ukrainian fighter pilots, the White House said. The US leader gave assurance of expedited approval for other nations to transfer their F-16s to Ukraine. NATO allies Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have so far pledged the fighter jets to Kyiv. In a shift, the Pentagon plans to begin training Ukrainian pilots of F-16s as soon as September, the New York Times reported.

The US and UK assess that the death of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was a hit probably approved by Russia’s president. Prigozhin’s “hyperactivity, exceptional audacity, a drive for results and extreme brutality” are “unlikely to be matched by any successor,” the UK defense ministry said in a social media posting, leaving the future of the mercenary group in doubt.

Russia’s defense ministry said its forces downed or demobilized 42 drones fired by Ukraine overnight, including nine over Crimea, and also shot down an S-200 missile over a region that borders Moscow. Two of Moscow’s four airports were closed briefly. Ukrainian ground troops have made progress in areas near Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region and continued advancing south of Bakhmut, the General Staff said on Facebook. Kyiv’s troops “advanced closer to the Russian second line of defense in the Robotyne area,” according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

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Markets

Oil prices are headed for a second weekly loss on signs of improving supply and a deteriorating economic situation in China, the biggest importer. Still, crude remains markedly higher than its lows in June, driven largely by supply cuts by OPEC+ linchpins Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Coming Up

• Russian deputy FM Sergei Ryabkov holds news conference on BRICS summit