Russia is not planning to fight European countries, but if Europe starts a war, Russia is "ready right now", the Russian president said on Tuesday as he blamed the Europeans for what he described as not having a "peaceful agenda".

Brazilian President Lula da Silva and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen celebrate the expected signing of a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur.

Against tough odds, the European Union and four key South American countries are closer than they've been in 25 years to signing a long-delayed free trade deal

Europe's defence sector has been reshaped since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as governments increase spending on defence and plan to boost their military ranks almost four years into the conflict.

T HE EUROPEAN UNION and Mercosur, a bloc of South American countries, first started negotiating their trade deal last century. In 1999 Bill Clinton was in the White House, Boris Yeltsin was stumbling around the Kremlin and China had yet to join the World Trade Organisation.

The European Commission allowed carmakers to volunteer limits on their imports from China instead of paying tariffs, an arrangement that could help Volkswagen.

Europe's telecoms providers may be given the use of lucrative radio spectrum without a time limit under the European Commission's proposed revamp of telecoms rules aimed at boosting investment, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The half-dozen Europeans with a direct line to Trump, from France's Emmanuel Macron and Italy's Giorgia Meloni to NATO chief Mark Rutte, can claim some successes with this strategy, namely in clawing back a seat at the table of talks to end the Ukraine war.

The European Union plans to allocate most of a new loan program to Ukraine's military needs over the next two years.