The European Commission is contemplating significant cuts to Ukrainian sugar imports after complaints from EU producers about plummeting sugar prices, Reuters reported on March 20, citing information from three sources.
"G7 decision that those assets are not going back to Russia unless Russia pays for its damages is something which is already decided. And it's important to stick with this decision," EU Economy and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said.
"We do not see the security of Europe in the integration of Ukraine into defense systems, but we see the need for a buffer zone between Russia and European defense structures, which serves the interests of both Russia and Europe," Hungary's Europen Affairs Minister Janos Boka told the Financial Times.
The EU is working on providing Ukraine with 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion) for ammunition, top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas said on March 20, as a much larger 40-billion-euro ($43 billion) package still lacks consensus.
The European Union plans to supply Ukraine with at least 2 million shells annually, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced on March 19.
In a joint letter, the foreign ministers of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia called on Brussels to put forward "concrete proposals on how to decisively advance Ukraine's accession process."
Editor’s note: This is issue 18 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly "Ukraine Reforms Tracker" covering events from March 10–16, 2025. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs. The Kyiv Independent is republishing with permission. Benchmarks and
The Reform and Growth Facility, which includes 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in low-interest loans and 385 million euros ($420 million) in grants, will cover the period of 2025-2027 and is part of the EU's long-term Moldova Growth Plan.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the proposal needed further discussion and that Italy was awaiting the outcome of the upcoming call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Negotiations will focus on establishing the legal and financial framework to seize Russian assets, despite opposition from some EU member states, particularly Belgium and Germany.
The disruptions have targeted Eutelsat and SES, Europe’s main satellite providers, which support television, radio, and aviation navigation systems.
The initiative to provide Ukraine with 40 billion euros ($43.6 billion) in military aid has "broad political support" among EU member states, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on March 17 before the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels.
EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the termination of the U.S. grant that funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) during a meeting in Brussels on March 17, according to a Kyiv Independent reporter in Brussels.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on March 16 drew comparisons between the anti-government protests in Serbia and Ukraine's 2014 EuroMaidan revolution, vowing to "protect and defend" the country from such an event.
With this disbursement, Ukraine will have received nearly 20 billion euros ($21,7 billion) under the Ukraine Facility since the program was launched in early 2024.
"We won't be dragged into this; we will not allow Hungarian taxpayers' money to be used to finance arms shipments to Ukraine," Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
The Hague-based International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine is a judicial hub supporting national investigations into the crime of aggression committed by the Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin, and Moscow's allies against Ukraine.
Western leaders reiterated their support for Ukraine following a virtual summit hosted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on March 15, where leaders from 25 countries were in attendance.
Orban named 12 demands, the last of which reads: "A Union, but without Ukraine." His other demands include banning "the unnatural re-education of our children" and protecting "Europe’s Christian heritage."
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced today that an expanded coalition of nations is ramping up efforts to back Ukraine in peace negotiations with Russia, following a high-level virtual summit in London on March 15.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has kicked off an online summit on March 15 of the "coalition of the willing," who could go on to secure Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia.
A German parliamentary coalition has agreed to allocate 3 billion euros (approximately $3.2 billion) in new military aid to Ukraine as part of a plan to dramatically scale up Berlin's defense spending, incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on March 14.
Formally a brigadier general, Oleksandr Potiy is today tasked with guarding Ukraine on the civilian side — far from the battlefield but right at the front line of Russia’s cyber war. Potiy is in camo fatigues when he addresses the crowd of IT workers and foreign investors for the keynote
Ukraine and the EU took steps to deepen cooperation in cybersecurity as Russian hybrid attacks aiming to undermine support for Kyiv and flame tensions across the continent continue to rise. Ukraine and Europe’s cybersecurity agencies signed a memorandum of understanding at the Kyiv International Cyber Resilience Forum this week
The European Union has reached a deal with Hungary to renew sanctions on more than 2,400 primarily Russian entities and individuals hours before they were set to expire on March 15, an EU official with knowledge of the negotiations told the Kyiv independent. The EU had been braced for
Hungary’s ambassador to the EU demanded that Mikhail Fridman be removed from the sanctions list, threatening to block the extension of EU sanctions imposed on about 2,000 Russians otherwise, the Financial Times reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.
The resolution, which carries symbolic significance, urges the European Union, NATO, and allied nations to boost political, economic, and military aid for Ukraine.
The declaration accuses the U.S. of trying "to negotiate a ceasefire and peace agreement with Russia over the heads of Ukraine and other European states."
As of January, Raiffeisen Capital held around 31.7 billion rubles ($365 million) in sanctioned entities, such as the Sberbank bank or the state-owned energy giant Gazprom, the report said, citing financial documents.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the results of Ukraine’s talks with the U.S. in Jeddah, on March 11, and reaffirmed the EU’s support.
The claims stem from Gazprom's decision to drastically reduce gas deliveries to Europe in 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that payments be made in rubles.
Russia’s war against Ukraine is not only about Ukraine’s freedom and survival, but also about the future of Europe’s hard security. Russia wants to replace the cooperative, democratic security order in Europe, the principles of which were outlined 50 years ago in the Helsinki Final Act, with
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