The European Union approved Monday its 14th round of sanctions against Russia in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The package includes a ban on the practice of reloading Russian liquefied natural gas in an EU country which is then sent to a third country.
There are sanctions targeting 116 people and entities, and increased measures to ensure companies do not circumvent existing sanctions.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he stressed the importance of the new sanctions “to further strangle Putin’s war economy,” as he addressed a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.
“Separately, I emphasized the need to expedite military aid deliveries, especially air defense, and expand defense industrial output,” Kuleba said on X. “We can and must defeat Russian aggression on Ukrainian soil to ensure long-term peace and stability throughout Europe.”
Ahead of Monday’s council meeting, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg, “Ukraine needs more help, and needs more help now.”
Borrell pointed to the Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland earlier this month, contrasting what he said was the opening of a diplomatic process to the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea to try to secure more weapons for Russia’s war effort.
Borrell said Putin “is clearly preparing for a long war.”
Ukrainian officials reported a Russian missile attack Monday on the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa that injured at least three people.
Ukraine’s military said Russia used two cruise missiles in the attack, with Ukrainian air defenses preventing one of the missiles from reaching its target.
Oleh Kiper, the regional governor of Odesa, said on Telegram the attack hit civilian infrastructure and caused a fire.
Russia’s defense ministry said Monday its air defenses destroyed four Ukrainian aerial drones over the Rostov region.
Vasily Golubev, the regional governor, said on Telegram falling debris from a downed drone hit an industrial site, but that there were no reports of injuries.
Some information for this story was provided by Reuters.
