The EU’s senior envoy for sanctions, David O’Sullivan (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty)

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UPDATE 1509 GMT:

The European Union has delivered 80% of the 2 million artillery shells that it pledged to Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the European Parliament.

“We aim for 100% by October,” Kallas said. “This is all so that Ukraine can defend itself, can defend its civilians, and push back the aggression.”

In her last report on April 3, Kallas said the EU had secured around half of the amount.

Ukraine also received 1 million large-caliber rounds this year through a separate Czech-led initiative by mid-August.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Europe now produces six times more artillery shells than it did in 2023.

UPDATE 1252 GMT:

Amid Russia’s record drone and missile strikes, Ukraine is facing shortages in air defense after the US Department of Defense slowed deliveries.

Pentagon official Elbridge Colby tried to halt all military supplies to Ukraine this spring with a “review” that claimed the US had to preserve its stocks. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued an order for the suspension.

Hegseth’s order was soon overturned, but a Pentagon directive in June have led to irregular and smaller than expected shipments.

Following a “readiness review” of 10 important systems, the Pentagon paused and then slowed down shipments to Ukraine of Pac-3 interceptors for Patriot air defense systems; dozens of Stinger man-portable air defence systems; precision-guided artillery shells; more than 100 Hellfire missiles; and Aim missiles launched by Ukraine’s NASAMS air defense systems and F-16 fighter jets.

Officials and analysts warn of shortfalls in air defense if Russia escalates or just maintains its attacks.

“It’s a question of time for when munitions run out,” said “a person familiar with US deliveries of air defense materiel to Ukraine”.

European Union members have agreed to send air defense systems and munitions from their stocks and to buy others from the US, but deliveries have only just begun.

UPDATE 1236 GMT:

Three oil and gas pipelines in Russia were knocked out of service by explosions on Monday, says an official in Ukrainian military intelligence.

The main oil pipeline in Penza in western Russia, with a capacity of 2 million barrels per day, and a nearby regional gas pipeline were struck.

At least four explosions were heard around 4:00 a.m. Penza is around 530 km (330 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border and 540 km (335 miles) southeast of Moscow.

The intelligence official said the damaged gas pipeline was used to “supply military facilities involved in the full-scale war against Ukraine”.

In the Saratov region in southwestern Russia, the Kuibyshev-Lysychansk oil pipeline was blown up. The pipeline, with an annual capacity of 82 million metric tons, provides fuel to the Russian army.

UPDATE 1209 GMT:

The toll from Russia’s bombing of civilians in Yarova in eastern Ukraine (see 0936 GMT) has risen to at least 23 killed and 18 injured.

Three of the wounded are in serious condition.

UPDATE 1154 GMT: Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has threatened Finland, using similar language to the pretext for Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In an interview with State outlet TASS, Medvedev — now the deputy chair of the State Security Council — said Finland should not “forget” that confrontation with Russia “could lead to the collapse of Finnish statehood forever”.

Medvedev claimed that Finland is historically tied to Nazi Germany: “The thirst for profit at the expense of Russia was installed in Finnish minds back in the days of Hitler.” He added that Finnish authorities in the 1940s wanted to expand Finland’s borders to include areas in modern-day Russia.

The former President railed that the current Finnish government is “Russophobic” and that authorities have attempted to erase the “historical and cultural identity” of ethnic Russians and to commit genocide against the Slavic population.

Claiming that Finland joined NATO under the “guise” of defense, Medvedev said Helsinki is preparing for war against Russia, used as “a springboard for an attack” by NATO.

UPDATE 1120 GMT:

The Trump Administration has ended joint efforts with European allies to combat disinformation campaigns from Russia, China, and Iran, say “three European officials familiar with the matter”.

The European countries were notified by the State Department last week that the US is terminated memoranda of understanding signed in 2023 during the Biden Administration. The agreements sought a unified approach to identifying and exposing malicious information spread by foreign governments.

The termination is the final step in the dismantling of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which tracked disinformation campaigns overseas by US adversaries and terror groups. The center was closed in December after Republican lawmakers blocked efforts to extend its mandate.

The far-right activist Darren Beattie, now Acting Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, boasted:

Far from spiking a single plan, we were proud to spike the entire GEC. Not only was GEC’s infamous censorship activity profoundly misaligned with this administration’s pro-free speech position, it was woefully and embarrassingly ineffective on its own terms.

Around 22 countries in Europe and Africa had signed agreements with the US over the past year.

UPDATE 0936 GMT:

Posting video, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky reports that more than 20 civilians have been killed by a Russian bomb on the Donetsk region in the east of the country.

Zelensky said the attack on the rural settlement of Yarova was on people waiting to collect their prisons.

Such Russian strikes must not be left without an appropriate response from the world. The Russians continue destroying lives while avoiding new strong sanctions and new strong blows. The world must not remain silent. The world must not remain idle.

“This is not a military operation — this is pure terrorism,” Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin posted.

Yarova, around 20 km (12.4 miles) north of the city of Sloviansk, is just 9 km (5.6 miles) from Russian-occupied territory.

UPDATE 0908 GMT:

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has told the European Parliament that “international efforts to end Russia’s war have stepped up in the last few months [but] Russia’s response is more aggression” in Ukraine.

Citing Russia’s record missile and drone attacks on Sunday, Kallas emphasized:

Putin has zero interest in peace, and he will not stop the war until he’s forced to….The only option we have is to pile more pressure on Russia, provide more support to Ukraine and prepare for the day after.

She noted that the EU is developoing the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, working with international partners to ensure maximum effect.

Our message to Russia is simple: the war is not winnable. Leave the battlefield and come to the table with Ukraine….

What Russia may have thought inevitable is far from it. Russia has not broken Ukraine’s resolve, and it must not break ours.

For those who doubt: don’t. Ukraine’s security is European security, and so long as Russia pursues its illegal war, we must continue to fight.

UPDATE 0750 GMT:

At least seven civilians have been killed and 23 injured by Russian strikes across Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

Air defenses downed 60 of 84 drones launched by Russia overnight, with 23 UAVs striking 10 locations.

In the Donetsk region in the east, six civilians were murdered and 10 injured.

In the Zaporizhzhia region in the south, one person was slain and another wounded amid 474 strikes on 13 settlements.

Casualties were also reported in the Kherson, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions.

UPDATE 0731 GMT:

The Russian Iskander missile that struck Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers building on Sunday contained more than 30 foreign-made components, say Ukrainian officials.

Presidential sanctions commissioner Vladyslav Vlasiuk said the missile failed to detonate after hitting the building, likely due to damage in flight, but its fuel triggered a fire.

The European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova added, “It’s only because the missile was unable to fully detonate that the entire building wasn’t turned into ruins.”

Vlasiuk noted that a similar missile examined by Ukrainian experts contained 35 components made in the US and individual parts from Japan, the UK, and Switzerland.

Among the companies identified were the US firms Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, and Altera; the UK’s College Electronics; Japan’s Fujitsu; and Switzerland’s Traco Power.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Officials of the Trump Administration and the European Union are meeting in Washington on Tuesday to consider toughened sanctions on Russia over its 42 1/2-month full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The EU’s senior envoy for sanctions, David O’Sullivan, is holding talks with American counterparts, amid Russia’s record drone and missile strikes on Ukraine last Sunday.

During the summer Donald Trump declared he would impose stricter sanctions if Russia did not halt its attacks on Ukrainian civilians, setting a 50-day and then a 10-day deadline. But he dropped the threat after he rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15.

However, after Russia’s latest attacks on Sunday, US Treasury Scott Bessent said the Administration is prepared to work with European allies on new sanctions targeting countries that buy Russian oil.

“We are prepared to increase pressure on Russia, but we need our European partners to follow us,” Bessent said. “We are in a race now between how long can the Ukrainian military hold up, versus how long can the Russian economy hold up.”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright added on Monday, “If the Europeans drew a line and said, ‘We’re not going to buy more Russian gas, we’re not going to buy Russian oil,’ would that have a positive influence on the US leaning in more aggressively as well? Absolutely.”

The EU is planning to cut off all imports of Russian energy by the end of 2027. The initiative is being hindered by the objections of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of Donald Trump.

Wright said the cutoff would fulfill a US-EU trade framework requiring Europe to purchase $750 billion worth of American energy resources by the end of 2028.

Diplomats said Germany and France are pressing for measures against Russian oil giant Lukoil as part of the 19th package of EU sanctions.

The two countries are also calling for sanctions refineries in third countries involved in exporting Russian oil to the EU and on trading firms dealing with the Russians.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that Russia’s “imperialist plan wouldn’t end with the conquest of Ukraine but would rather be just the start”.

Noting Moscow’s provocations in the Baltic and North Seas, Merz said, “We are experiencing daily and with increasing intensity hybrid Russian attacks, including on our infrastructure.”