The European Union imposes sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

"This is an important step. Let me note that the only world leaders who have fallen under EU sanctions are Assad from Syria, Lukashenko from Belarus and now Putin from Russia," he said.

"Putin is not the people of Russia," Borrell said, recalling that together with Putin and Lavrov, a …

As of 20:00 Kyiv time, the situation in the Donetsk region is tense, but controlled by the Ukrainian Joint Forces, reports General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Russian troops continue intensive shelling.

Despite numerous air, artillery and missile strikes, as well as a large number of armored vehicles, Russian troops could not move deeper into Ukraine in the eastern part of the country. Ukrainian military managed to repel attacks and keep all key locations and infrastructure.

Fierce …

"The new unfriendly steps of the EU against Russia and also fraternal Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic will not be able to stop the progressive development of our states and the provision of assistance to them. In accordance with the basic principle of reciprocity of international law, we will take tough retaliatory measures," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The EU mistakenly believes that sanctions against Russia will be effective,” the Kremlin said.

After the Kremlin …