The EU is planning further sanctions against Russia but said it will not affect the energy sector. EU’s Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni on Saturday said the bloc will see reduced growth because of the war in Ukraine.
Russia launched a war on Ukraine on February 24. However, according to the latest updates, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said the military situation in the country’s east remained extremely difficult. He repeated warnings that Russia was preparing for strikes in the Donbas region and Kharkiv. Zelensky also said that Russia was trying to conscript troops from Crimea as it began its annual conscription drive. Meanwhile, the US department of defense will provide an additional $300 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including laser-guided rocket systems, drones, and commercial satellite imagery services. The United States will work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine to bolster its defenses in the Donbas region.