EU extends Russia sanctions but new package blocked by Slovakia. What we know on day 1,220

Ukraine and Russia exchanged a new group of captured soldiers on Thursday, the latest in a series of prisoner swaps agreed at peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month . Neither side said how many prisoners were released in the latest exchange. The majority had been held captive for more than three years, according to Ukraine’s coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war. Many of them were taken prisoner in Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city that fell to Russian forces in 2022 after a nearly three-month siege, it said. Russian officials said its soldiers had been transferred to Belarus and were receiving “psychological and medical care”.

The EU’s 27 leaders on Thursday agreed to extend sanctions on Russia for another six months, resolving fears that Kremlin-friendly Hungary would let the measures lapse, officials said. The decision at a summit in Brussels means that the EU’s sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine, including the freezing of more than 200bn euros ($234bn) in Russian central bank assets, will remain in force until at least early 2026. But while the EU made sure its existing measures will remain in place, it failed to get clearance on a new package of sanctions due to a blockage by Slovakia.

The leaders also said the bloc “remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine’s path towards EU membership.” That message came a day after Nato leaders refrained from putting a reference to Ukraine’s hopes of joining the military organisation in their summit statement, due in large part to US resistance. In a video message sent to EU leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged them to send “a clear political message – that Ukraine is firmly on the European path and that Europe stands by its promises.”

The White House has recommended terminating US funding for nearly two dozen programs that conduct war crimes and accountability work globally, including on alleged Russian atrocities in Ukraine, according to two US sources familiar with the matter and internal government documents reviewed by Reuters. The recommendation from the Office of Management and Budget, which has not been previously reported, is not the final decision to end the programs since it gives the state department the option to appeal.

Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Thursday that a new arms race could lead to the fall of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “regime”, just like it toppled the Soviet Union . The Nato member’s top diplomat spoke after the western defence alliance agreed to massively ramp up defence spending, seen as vital to counter the threat from Russia. “Putin should understand that he is on the path of [Soviet leader Leonid] Brezhnev. He himself once said that the Soviet Union collapsed because it spent too much on armament, and now he is doing exactly the same thing,” Sikorski said in an interview with AFP, the Polish news agency PAP and German agency DPA.

Ukrainian forces have halted Russia’s recent advance into the northern Sumy region and have stabilized the frontline near the border with Russia, Ukraine’s top military commander said on Thursday . Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said that Ukrainian successes in Sumy have prevented Russia from deploying about 50,000 Russian troops, including elite airborne and marine brigades, to other areas of the frontline.

Russian troops have taken control of a village in eastern Ukraine which is close to a lithium deposit after fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces, a Russian-backed official said on Thursday . The village of Shevchenko is located in Donetsk. The Russian defence ministry announced earlier on Thursday that Shevchenko had been taken along with another settlement called Novoserhiivka.

The international chemical weapons watchdog said Thursday that it had found a banned teargas in seven samples submitted by Ukraine, which has accused Russia of using the riot control agent on the frontline . It was the third time the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has confirmed the use of CS gas in areas where fighting is taking place in Ukraine.