BOC minutes: policy makers agreed the economy is weak, in a state of excess supply with slack in the labour market, but not in recession.

June 23 — At the Kremlin, President Putin accused Western states of inflating the Russian military threat, saying they openly discuss preparing to go to war with Russia and are boosting military budgets and offensive capabilities to justify large defense spending and aggressive militarization. He said Russia is prepared to respond rapidly and appropriately to any external or internal threat, and warned that while Western states have not yet launched actions from their territories against Russia, they understand such moves would trigger retaliatory strikes.

On June 23, 2026, at an OAS dialogue in Panama, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. and OAS observer Xie Feng rejected Panama's allegations that China improperly carried out port-state inspections on arriving ships. Xie said the charges were false, citing multiple collisions since 2026 involving Panama-flagged vessels in Chinese waters that caused deaths and missing persons. He said China, under Chinese law and relevant international conventions, has conducted port-state control inspections to protect maritime and crew safety and that inspections are not targeted at any specific country or flag. Xie urged Panama to correct the record and safeguard the lawful rights of Chinese firms.