Australia, UK Prime Ministers Confront Putin Over Ukraine

• Russian President Putin is bracing [FT] for a “catastrophic” slump in oil prices as he arrived at this year’s G20 summit in Australia. 4 Russian naval vessels are also on their way to Australia, which is Putin’s answer to Tony Abbott’s shirtfronting posture [Guardian]. Britain’s prime minister Cameron also denounced [The Independent] Russia’s “bullying.”

• The New York Times reports how Eastern Ukraine is emptying out as Russia renews its covert war activities in the region.

• The European Council on Foreign Relations, on what Russia is up to in Ukraine:

“Russian behaviour is not only aimed at realising its immediate military goals in the Donbass, which, if achieved, would ‘freeze’ the conflict. Constant military threat and escalation is a means to undermine Ukraine as a state.”

• Who would head Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov was hanging on a lawsuit, and the final verdict was announced earlier this week. The administrative court of appeals confirmed an earlier decision by a district court in Kiev, which had overturned Sergii Merenkov’s appointment as Deputy President, and made Dmytro Kiva Antonov’s “only legal leader” despite an order from the Ministry of Industrial Policy to dismiss Kiva. This is the end of the appeal process, leaving Kiva in charge.

• The Royal Netherlands Air Force set up its 1st F-35 squadron, but it will be operating in the US until at least 2019.