BRUSSELS -- BRUSSELS (AP) — 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.“Today is a good day for Europe and Ukraine,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in a statement, as EU leaders were gathering for a summit in Brussels.He said that the new sanctions “will introduce new and comprehensive measures on oil and gas, the shadow fleet and Russia’s financial sector.”The move comes a day after U.S.President Donald Trump’s administration announced new sanctions against Russia’s oil industry that are aimed at moving Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and ending Moscow’s war on Ukraine.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP’s earlier story follows below.BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders meeting at a summit Thursday are aiming to greenlight a new raft of sanctions against Russia and press ahead with plans to use Moscow’s assets that are frozen in Europe to fund Ukraine’s war effort and economy for at least the next two years.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will take part in the one-day summit in Brussels, as he and his European backers press for a ceasefire to halt almost four years of fighting.“Both support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia remain the two necessary requirements to achieve a just and lasting peace,” EU Council President António Costa, who will chair the meeting, said in an invitation letter to the leaders.The summit comes after U.S.President Donald Trump said that his plan for a swift meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin was on hold because he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.” It was yet another twist in Trump’s stop-and-go effort to end the war.The leaders are eager for any progress on Trump’s Gaza peace plan, and will debate ways to keep the 27-nation bloc involved in proceedings.The EU is the...