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Good morning from the Financial Times.

Today is Friday, June 20th, and this is your FT News briefing.

Russia's wartime economy is starting to slow down, and the European Union wants to seal trade talks

with the U.S. Plus, a U.N. official sounds the alarm on aid distribution in Gaza.

I'm Josh Gabbard-Douillon, and here's the news you need to start your day.

Russia may be heading towards a recession, so says the country's finance minister. That's the

first time the government has admitted serious economic difficulty

since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. The Russian economy has been kept

afloat so far by sky-high outlays on defense. Military spending was up 25% last year,

and that's led to strong wage increases and low unemployment.

But the boost from public spending has since tapered off,

and stubborn inflation has forced the central bank to keep its interest rates high,

and that's meant higher borrowing costs for businesses.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin hinted earlier in the week

that he'd support a lower interest rate to get the economy growing again.

...