Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
The European Union has failed to agree on the 20th package of sanctions against Russia ahead of tomorrow’s fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian aggression on Ukraine (16:35).
The move comes just as top EU figures are expected in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the anniversary (16:39), with several leaders also set to travel to the Ukrainian capital.
EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said it was “regrettable” the decision could not be made today as Hungary continues to block the process amid escalating tensions with Ukraine over oil deliveries with the Druzhba pipeline (16:41, 16:45).
Hungary’s veto (11:03) has also blocked the payout of the EU’s €90bn loan for Ukraine already agreed in December, prompting angry reaction from EU leaders (10:25, 10:29, 10:38, 12:00, 12:17, 17:18).
The standoff comes less than two months before Hungary goes to the polls in a closely contested election which could see Viktor Orbán ousted after 16 years in power, prompting questions about whether the conflict is used for domestic campaigning (9:52, 9:57, 16:45).
Separately, Slovakia also remains in dispute with Ukraine over the same issue, moving to block electricity exports to the wartorn country in retaliation (17:08).
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s former commander in chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi warned about the rapidally shifting nature of war in a high-profile speech in London (13:15, 13:35).
Ukrainian officials suggested that the next round of talks with Russia and the US could take place as early as this week (14:21, 14:51).
In other news,
The European parliament has decided to pause the ratification process relating to the US trade deal struck with Donald Trump last July in Scotland (15:38) amid concerns over legal uncertainty associated with transatlantic trade (12:08, 12:31, 12:33, 15:15).
38-year-old Rob Jetten has been sworn in as the Netherland’s new prime minister, the youngest premier in history, leading a fragile three-party minority administration (10:48, 11:16).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Updated
‘There are so many images I’d like to forget’: Julia Kochetova’s astonishing photographs of war in Ukraine
From the frontline to underground shelters to children’s funerals, Julia Kochetova has captured the war in Ukraine with power and humanity for the Guardian.
Kochetova is unlike most of the people who cover Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the Guardian. The photographer lives in Kyiv; she is Ukrainian. It is her country that is being invaded, her friends who are being killed.
“In my case, and in the case of Ukrainian journalists, you have the same scars as those you photograph: you match scars with scars,” she told the Guardian’s chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins ahead of a major show in Amsterdam showing her work.
