TASS reports President Putin signed a law amending tax legislation to support Russia's domestic fuel market.

KYODO reports Japan's defense and foreign ministers will attend next week's NATO summit.

The New York Times, citing four people familiar with the talks, reports Iranian President Pezeshkian visited Supreme Leader Mujtaba Khamenei during final negotiations after Khamenei hesitated to approve a preliminary U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Pezeshkian told Khamenei the U.S. maritime blockade was choking Iran’s economy and said he would resign if the deal was rejected; central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati warned in a letter of a severe budget crisis, saying key food and medical supplies would be exhausted by end‑August if the blockade continued and that Iran could not sell oil at required volumes or find alternative trade routes. Those interventions were cited as pivotal in Khamenei’s eventual support; Khamenei said he opposed the deal in principle but instructed the president to proceed if the Supreme National Security Council backed it — Pezeshkian said the council approved the agreement 12‑1.