Latest news about Russia and the war in Ukraine

The European Union will continue to work on Monday to reach a deal to ban Russian oil, after attempts to do so failed on Sunday.

Hungary, a major user of Russian oil, has largely stalled talks, whose leader Viktor Orban has friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Budapest over the weekend signaled its support for the European Commission’s proposal to impose sanctions only on Russian oil brought by tankers into the EU, which would allow landlocked energy importers Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to continue receiving their Russian oil via pipeline until the alternative. Sources can be found. But the talks have been bogged down by Hungary’s demands for EU funding.

The proposed sanctions on oil imports would be part of the sixth EU sanctions package against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Approximately 36% of the EU’s oil imports come from Russia. Energy prices, already high at the beginning of this year, have risen since Putin launched war against Ukraine.

– Natasha Turak

Britain’s Ministry of Defense said the Russian military likely suffered “heavy losses” among its mid- and junior-ranking officials, which is likely to exacerbate problems in modernizing its command and control approach.

In an intelligence update, the department said junior officers are leading lower-level tactical operations because the military lacks the highly trained and empowered non-commissioned officers who perform this role in Western forces.

“Tactical groups of battalions that are being reconstituted in Ukraine from survivors of multiple units are likely to be less effective due to the lack of junior commanders,” the ministry added.

“It is more likely that brigade and battalion commanders will deploy forward into harm’s way because they bear an uncompromising level of responsibility for the performance of their units,” the ministry said.

The ministry added that the lack of experienced and credible commanders is likely to lead to a further decline in morale and persistent poor discipline following multiple credible reports of a localized insurgency among Russian forces.

– Chelsea Ong

The world, especially the West, should have been more vigilant about Putin’s actions in Georgia and Ukraine in previous years, and should have been more actively engaged with Russia at that time, says Angus Blair, a professor at the American University in Cairo.

On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying that the “liberation” of Ukraine’s Donbass is an “unconditional priority” for Moscow, while other Ukrainian lands must decide their own future.

“The liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are recognized by the Russian Federation as independent states, is an unconditional priority,” Lavrov said in an interview with French television channel TF1.

For the rest of Ukraine, he said, “people should decide their future in these regions.”

– Reuters

The European Union failed to reach an agreement on a Russian oil embargo, A senior EU official told Reuters.

Officials told the news agency that diplomats would continue to try to make progress ahead of Monday and Tuesday’s summit on exempting pipeline deliveries to landlocked Central European countries.

The proposed sanctions, which would be the EU’s sixth package in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, face concerns about oil supplies from countries including landlocked Hungary.

Reuters said the talks have been going on for a month and will continue on Monday.

– Leslie Josephs