Chris Powers

BRUSSELS, Belgium — With negotiations in full flow over its next package of sanctions, the EU's Sanctions Envoy David O'Sullivan explained in an interview with the Kyiv Independent just how successful sanctions against Russia have been, and why he is confident the bloc will hold the line for as long as it needs to. The scale of the EU's decoupling from Russia is huge, with trade down from roughly 260 billion euros ($295 billion) before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion to only 58 billion

The tightening of eligibility for so-called "temporary protection" is a rising trend across Europe, with Denmark having made the same adjustment the day before, and countries such as Czechia drafting laws on what Ukrainians under temporary protection can do.

Several EU countries are considering national laws intended to restrict how temporary protection works for the 4 million Ukrainian refugees across Europe.

"We will not allow the shadow fleet to evade sanctions and fund Russia's war effort. Europe is determined," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X on June 25.

The announcement came hours after a new call for 650 million euros ($740 million), the estimated cost of protecting Ukraine's energy infrastructure ahead of the winter.

Russia "seek(s) to exploit fears related to corruption, security, identity, and economic costs" through online disinformation campaigns, according to a report published by Ukraine and the EU.

BRUSSELS, Belgium — June 23 marks four years since the EU formally agreed to grant Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia candidate status for future membership, a path that President Volodymyr Zelensky thought the country would be able to progress down rapidly, but which has turned out to be fraught with obstacles. In early 2026, Zelensky was repeating 2027 as a target date for Ukrainian entry to the EU, whereas new Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on June 3 he thinks 10-15 years is the times

"We are ready to resume (peace talks) at any time, picking up where they left off," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed.

President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Alexander Lukashenko that Belarus would have one week to remove the equipment facilitating Russia's attacks, or Kyiv would take action, remarks that the Kremlin said Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart would discuss "in the foreseeable future."

Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) reported on June 19 that the apartment of the head of one of its detective units was bugged with surveillance devices. The bureau said an employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was involved in the tapping.

Around 65% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to the bloc, according to a survey by the EU Neighbors East program.

BRUSSELS — Belgium, The conclusions of the meeting of EU leaders on June 18 have been watered down, at the insistence of Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar, to reduce the urgency of advancing Ukraine's EU accession process. Three days prior, the EU opened the first of six so-called enlargement clusters for Ukraine and Moldova, to-do lists that they must complete to become the union's member states. It was expected that the remaining five clusters would open in July at the latest. The draft

BRUSSELS — Belgium, The EU should engage more in diplomatic efforts to end Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, according to draft conclusions of the June 18-19 European Council summit seen by the Kyiv Independent. The EU leaders' meeting follows weeks of media-driven speculation over who should represent Europe in any future peace talks. During that time, the E3 countries (France, Germany, and the U.K.) put out their own feelers to their Russian counterparts, as did the team of European

"Bulgaria will ask Patriarch Kirill to be removed from the sanction package," Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.

U.S. President Donald Trump, fixated on Iran in a one-hour press conference at the end of the G7 summit, thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for supposedly not helping Iran as much as he could have.