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Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko attends a session of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 17, 2025.
Politics

Exclusive: Mounting concern in Brussels over Ukraine’s reform backslide

by Luca Léry Moffat

As Ukraine pushes for a fast-tracked entry to the EU, senior European officials say they are worried about progress on key reforms needed to secure the country’s European aspirations. Ukraine failed to complete 11 reforms in the last three months of 2025 required to unlock European funds, according to RRR4U, a consortium of Ukrainian think tanks, and is on track to miss more reforms in the first three months of 2026 — putting a total of five billion euros ($5.8 billion) of EU funding at risk.

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What to do if you spot an Iranian Shahed drone

A feeling familiar to millions of Ukrainians was suddenly experienced across the Middle East over the weekend — the terror caused by Shahed drones flying overhead and smashing into buildings. Footage flooded social media as Iran launched drones and missiles in retaliatory strikes in response to the U.S.-Israeli bombardment that began on Feb. 28. "Welcome to the club, guys," Vladislav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president's representative on sanctions policy, told the Kyiv Independent when asked wha

An Iranian-made Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drone flies over Kermanshah, Iran, on March 7, 2024.

Merz urges Trump to increase pressure on Russia

"Russia is playing for time here, and in doing so is also acting against the will of the American president. In today's talks, I called for increasing the pressure on Moscow," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on March 3 after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

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What an Iran oil spike would mean for Russia

The tanker "Eventin," part of Russia's "shadow fleet," off the coast of the island of Rügen, Germany, on March 24, 2025.

As markets opened on March 2, Russian officials were quick to frame the escalating Middle East crisis as an economic opportunity for the Kremlin. Within hours of the first U.S. and Israeli strikes, Russian Envoy Kirill Dmitriev quickly posted on X about crude potentially hitting "$100+" per barrel. Brent crude futures on the London ICE exchange initially had risen 13.04%, peaking at $82.37 per barrel — the highest level in over a year. Prices later eased to $79.38. The spike followed Iran's M

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