Sanctions

The proposal will not include a blanket prohibition of LNG imports, as scores of EU hawks have been urging.

Diplomats tell POLITICO they fear a Trumpian strategy of spurning the EU and playing divide and rule among member countries.

Consuming more U.S. fossil fuels contradicts Europe’s climate targets, Finland’s top energy official told POLITICO.

In return, Syrian authorities will have to set up a democratic transition process and get rid of the Assad administration’s chemical weapons.

Before relenting, Budapest had threatened to allow billions of dollars to flow back to the Kremlin in a row over energy imports.

Comments came after angry complaints from Slovakia and Hungary over Kyiv’s refusal to renew transit of Russian gas.

“There will be more and more of us. Those who want to live in our little Slovakia, but in a civilized Europe,” said Eva Kulová, 84, who helped topple Communism.

The “stop-work orders” appear to apply to US aid for all countries except Israel and Egypt.

Trump is expected to take a far more permissive approach to Israel’s expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

Russian president flatters U.S. leader by referring to the 2020 American election as “stolen.”

But diplomats still expect the Hungarian prime minister to ultimately back down, perhaps as soon as Monday.

Viktor Orbán has flirted with killing the EU’s Russia sanctions. But he didn’t get the ally he might have expected in Donald Trump.

U.S. president also says he’ll ask NATO allies to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP.

The Trump presidency “might not be good — but it will be much better than under Biden,” a former Ukrainian cabinet minister says.

The proposals are to be discussed during next week’s meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Any deal must not become a back door for Russian influence, says Moldovan official.

Critics say it’s time for the EU’s top energy supplier to redirect some of those proceeds to Kyiv.

Ukraine’s leader took a personal jab at Robert Fico after the Slovakian PM threatened to cut Kyiv off from electricity exports.

Ten countries are pushing for tough new restrictions — but Hungary and Slovakia are expected to oppose them.

Syria’s transitional government “sounds good so far,” Germany’s foreign minister told POLITICO — but actions speak louder than words.

New U.S. sanctions against Russia target Serbia’s main gas company, at the same time that Azerbaijan claims to not be able to deliver its supply.

“One seemingly inauthentic Facebook account identified by researchers was found to post over 100 times a day,” the Centre for Information Resilience noted.