Missile threats and EU warnings: Ukraine's backdrop on 29 July 2024

What was the political picture around Ukraine as 29 July 2024 began? Reports from the preceding days pointed to pressure on several fronts: security threats from Moscow, a warning from Warsaw over EU accession, and a domestic decision on martial law.

On 28 July 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to position long-range missiles that could strike throughout Europe. He was responding to the United States' announcement of plans to set up long-range missiles in Germany beginning in 2026.

Warsaw's condition on EU membership

On 24 July 2024, Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that Poland would block Ukraine's bid to join the European Union unless Kyiv resolved issues concerning the massacre of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War. He said this included finding and burying all victims killed on what is now Ukrainian territory.

Martial law extended

On 23 July 2024, the Ukrainian parliament agreed to extend martial law and nationwide military mobilisation for a further 90 days, beginning on 12 August.

A case in Belarus

On 25 July 2024, a German man sentenced to death in Belarus for photographing Belarusian military sites in Ukraine urged Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko to pardon him. He made the appeal in a television appearance.

Taken together, the reports from 23 to 28 July 2024 show Ukraine's situation being shaped by wartime domestic measures, by questions over its path towards the EU, and by escalating rhetoric over missile deployments in Europe.