EU's top diplomat urges continued Russia sanctions as attacks kill five in Ukraine
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on member states to maintain sanctions against Russia as Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least five people on Monday. Talks on extending nearly 3,000 sanctions listings continue in Brussels ahead of a Tuesday deadline.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in New York that sanctions remain a core pillar of the bloc's response to Russia's war against Ukraine. She said officials hoped to close talks on extending the sanctions soon so the rollover could take effect swiftly, stressing the need for stability. Kallas added that the EU's position remains unchanged and that a new sanctions package is also being prepared.
Discussions are ongoing after some EU member states sought to remove certain individuals from the bloc's blacklist. On Monday, EU countries failed to finalise a deal that would have lifted sanctions on Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman. Ukraine's foreign minister, Andriy Sybiga, called the move unacceptable, warning it would send the wrong signal to Moscow. Negotiations continue in Brussels to extend sanctions on almost 3,000 individuals and entities before Tuesday evening's deadline.
Attacks continue along the frontline
Russian forces kept up attacks across Ukrainian regions along the 1,200km frontline on Monday, killing at least five people, according to regional officials. In the Kharkiv region, a drone strike on Lozova killed one person and injured three others. In Dnipropetrovsk region, a drone killed a car driver in Nikopol. In Donetsk region, a strike severely damaged an apartment building in Kramatorsk, killing one person, while another person died in a nearby village. In Mykolaiv region, a sustained attack on a village killed a three-year-old child. Russia also bombarded Zaporizhzhia overnight, hitting apartment blocks, a university and a shopping mall, wounding five people, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Donald Trump is expected to press Ukraine's president on an energy ceasefire during a meeting this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, as world diesel prices climb amid the wars in Iran and Ukraine. Russia's newly elected parliament will include 49 deputies who took part in the war against Ukraine, following a landslide win for the ruling party in widely criticised elections. UN investigators have warned that escalating infrastructure attacks by both sides are leaving civilians increasingly vulnerable as winter approaches, raising fears of a repeat of last year's severe power and heating shortages.
