The European Union has agreed on a new raft of sanctions against Russia targeting its shadow fleet of oil tankers and banning its imports of liquefied natural gas, the Danish EU presidency announced Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed "very important" new U.S. and European Union energy sanctions on Russia on Thursday, but said more pressure would be needed on Moscow to secure a ceasefire in the war.

Russia secretly used front companies to buy Western technology and erect a surveillance net in the Arctic where its submarines operate, an investigation shows.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday dismissed the idea of halting the conflict at the current contact line. Moscow was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov said, implying that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will take part in the one-day summit in Brussels, as he and his European backers press for a cease-fire to halt almost four years of fighting.

Trump wants Russia and Ukraine to freeze the war on the current battlelines, with Moscow holding a huge swathe of eastern Ukraine.

The Swedish-made JAS 39 Gripen would dramatically help modernize Ukraine's air force.

The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies found Russia’s growth has slumped due to sky-high interest rates.