Ukraine initiated the meeting to address Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's threats to halt electricity exports to Ukraine and cut support for Ukrainian refugees, Ukraine's envoy to the EU said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union must be banned and replaced with supplies from the United States and other partners.
While the diamond industry markets itself as a beacon of luxury, the complex web of global trade hides dark, brutal reality. Despite sanctions and growing scrutiny, Russian diamonds continue to enter the global market, funding Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
Orban "surprised" his fellow EU leaders by deciding to block the extension during a summit in Brussels on Dec. 19 in what is considered a "routine" step, Bloomberg wrote.
The EU imposed fully fledged sanctions on Dec. 16, including asset freezes and visa bans, on Chinese firms for supplying Russia's military for the war against Ukraine.
The new listings include 54 persons and 30 entities "responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."
EU ambassadors agreed on a 15th package of sanctions against Russia, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU announced on Dec. 11.
The European Union has failed to approve its 15th sanctions package on Russia, which included an extension for Czechia to import Russian oil products through Slovakia, Reuters reported on Dec. 6, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
The EU's 15th sanctions package will include 30 legal entities from eight countries and 50 individuals, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, said on Nov. 26.
The European Union is preparing to implement additional sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities involved in propping up Russia's war machine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Nov. 15, citing a top EU official.
"We have to strengthen anti-sanctions circumvention measures because Russia cannot produce (weaponry) without imported parts, chips and other components," the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said at a news conference in Kyiv. "We should use sanctions to isolate Russia's industrial capabilities from imports from other countries."
The last time Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited an EU country was in 2021, when he traveled to the OSCE meeting in Stockholm, Sweden
The source told the Kyiv Independent the drones targeted the large state-owned Sverdlov Plant in the city of Dzerzhinsk in the Nizhny Novgorod region, some 900 kilometers deep into Russia.
Key findings: * International sanctions lists contain mistakes in key identifying data of Sergey Korolev, deputy head of Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). * The European Union and Swiss sanctions list the incorrect date of birth of Korolev. Almost all other sanctions lists don’t include the most likely spelling of his
Austrians went to the polls on Sept. 29, handing victory to the far-right, anti-migration Freedom Party (FPO). The party gained 29% of the vote, its best result to date. Founded in 1956 by Anton Reinthaller, a former Nazi SS officer, the party has long been climbing into the country's mainstream,
Ukraine placed sanctions on Russia’s Lukoil, blocking the company from transiting oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. This move heightened tensions as Hungary accused Ukraine of endangering its energy independence.
Russian oligarchs Gennady Timchenko and Mikhail Fridman and Russia's National Settlement Depository on Sept. 11 lost their appeal against EU sanctions imposed against them.
Hungary, which has repeatedly opposed sanctions on Russia and undermined Western aid efforts for Ukraine, once again reportedly demanded that several people be removed from the sanctions list in exchange for their support.
An explosion reported at an Avangard plant in Bashkortostan, Russia, killed three people, RFE/RL reported on Aug. 5. The plant belongs to Rostec, the Russian state-owned arms manufacturer.
The announcement came a few days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election when dictator Alexander Lukashenko cemented his hold on power through electoral fraud and mass repressions.
Switzerland announced new sanctions against Russia on July 8, bringing the country further in line with the EU's 14th round of sanctions adopted in response to the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The EU Council also prohibited the direct or indirect imports, purchasing, or transferring of gold and diamonds from Belarus, as well as helium, coal, and mineral products, including crude oil.
"Belarus must no longer serve as a route to circumvent our sanctions against Russia," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Russian oligarch and business tycoon Dmitry Pumpyansky has successfully appealed against sanctions imposed by the European Union, according to a decision by the EU General Court published on June 26.
The EU Council adopted the 14th round of sanctions against Russia on June 24, aimed at tackling the circumvention of existing measures and to further restrict profits from Russia's energy industry.
"This package provides new targeted measures and maximizes the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes," the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council said on social media.
European Union countries failed to approve a new sanctions package targeting the Russian gas industry after German authorities intervened to block the deal at the last minute.
The U.S. has proposed that a $50 billion loan to Ukraine could be repaid by profits from frozen Russian assets, on the condition that the EU agrees to extend sanctions against Russia until the end of the war, the Financial Times reported on June 5, citing a leaked EU discussion paper.
The European Council adopted new sanctions on May 31 targeting six individual and three entities from Iran who are involved in the transfer of drones to support Russia's war effort in Ukraine.
The European Union has established a new sanctions regime against Russia in connection with the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the "accelerating and systematic repression in Russia," the Council of the EU announced on May 27.
At Czechia's proposal, the EU has sanctioned former Ukrainian politician and pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, the Czech Foreign Ministry said on May 27.
The European Union is considering imposing sanctions on Belarus as a way to close a trade loophole that has allowed Russia to import luxury cars and other banned goods produced in Western countries, the Financial Times reported on May 23.
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