François Picard is pleased to welcome Vitalii Kim, Minister for Veterans' Affairs of Ukraine. "If Europe will not support us, we also will fight because it's our motherland," says Kim, insisting that Ukraine's determination to resist Russian aggression will endure regardless of the outcome of negotiations over European financial assistance. Yet behind this assertion of national resolve lies a more complex reality: a country confronting not only the immediate pressures of war, but also its mounting psychological, social and institutional consequences.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Vitalii Kim, Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine. “If Europe will not support us, we also will fight because it's our motherland,” says Kim, insisting that Ukraine's determination to resist Russian aggression will endure regardless of the outcome of negotiations over European financial assistance. Yet behind this assertion of national resolve lies a more complex reality: a country confronting not only the immediate pressures of war, but also its mounting psychological, social and institutional consequences.

François Picard welcomes Igor Mladenovic, a French-Serbian sports writer, sports business analyst and former football commentator based in Luxembourg. For Mladenovic, the backlash in China over Kylian Mbappé's playful reference to a meme depicting him in the likeness of Mao Zedong illustrates a dilemma of the digital age: how a seemingly innocuous anecdote from a football superstar can escalate into a geopolitical firestorm.

On 28 May 2026, EU Today published an article concerning Cool Carriers and vessels commercially operated by it in the context of a number of cases involving the trafficking of prohibited substances. The article also referred by name to members of the company’s senior management.

We wish to clarify that Cool Carriers did not own the four vessels referred to in the article, nor did it employ their crews or exercise day-to-day onboard control of those vessels.

Cool Carriers has informed EU Today that neither the company nor Mikhail Ganyushin or Maxim Nazimok has ever been or is under investigation in relation to the matters reported in the article. EU Today is not aware of evidence establishing otherwise. We have also been informed on behalf of the company and the individuals concerned that none has been or is subject to sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union or United Kingdom.

Cool Carriers, Mr Ganyushin and Mr Nazimok deny any wrongdoing in connection with the matters referred to in the article.

EU Today did not intend to allege that Cool Carriers, Mr Ganyushin or Mr Nazimok knowingly participated in, facilitated or were complicit in the trafficking of prohibited substances referred to in the article. We apologise for any impression the article may have given to the contrary. We also apologise for not having approached Cool Carriers and the individuals concerned directly for comment before the original publication.