In the day's other headlines, top European officials followed Washington's lead today in approving new economic measures aimed at pressuring Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

The latest round of sanctions targets key sectors of Russia's economy.

That says violence on the ground continues with new attacks reported in several regions.

In southeastern Ukraine this morning,

the charred remains of a Russian drone strike,

two journalists killed,

in what Ukraine's human rights office is calling a war crime.

Miles away in Brussels, European leaders took a major step

toward using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.

We need to use any kind of Russian money for Ukraine and production.

The more than $200 billion would help Ukraine purchase additional weapons and begin the long process of rebuilding.

Sanctions the European Union imposed today ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, add port bans on over

100 new Russian ships, and for the first time sanctioning Chinese and Indian banks accused of supporting

Russia's war economy. Those moves come on the heels of President Donald Trump's new punitive measures against Russia's oil industry.

Look, these are tremendous sanctions. These are very big.

The U.S. sanctions on Ross Neft and Luke oil, Russia's two largest oil companies,

mark a major policy shift for the Trump administration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called this step an unfriendly act.

It does not strengthen Russian-American relations, which have just begun to recover.

With such actions, the U.S. administration damages Russian-American relations.

Oil and gas remain the backbone of Russia's economy, a crucial source of revenue funding

its war in Ukraine.

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