An EU official said European Council president Costa's office held brief diplomatic contacts with the Kremlin in recent weeks to open lines of communication, but no substantive issues were discussed.

Mizuho Securities economist Yasuhisa Irie warned that prolonged Middle East infrastructure repairs keeping energy prices elevated could trigger a temporary spike in Japan’s imports in H2 2026. Government trade data released Wednesday showed progress diversifying crude supply away from the Strait of Hormuz: overall oil imports fell 28.5% while US crude imports rose 663.4%, offering some relief to households.

UK May unadjusted core output PPI MoM 0.8%; April revised to 0.9% from 0.7%.