• The European Union will discuss increasing sanctions against Russia on Monday (July 18).
• Russia is accused of using the continent’s largest nuclear power station to store weapons and launch missiles.
• EU foreign ministers are considering a ban on gold imports from Russia, similar to what G-7 allies have already done.

KYIV: The European Union will discuss increasing sanctions against Russia on Monday (July 18), which is accused of using the continent’s largest nuclear power station to store weapons and launch missiles into southern Ukraine and the surrounding area.

The situation at the captured nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia is “extremely tense,” according to the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy organisation, Petro Kotin.

He also said that the Russians have set up missile launchers and are using the site to shell the Dnipro area.

On Saturday, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko described Grad rocket attacks on residential areas as “a deluge of fire.” ‘Rescuers discovered two bodies beneath the wreckage‘ in the riverbank city of Nikopol, he reported.

As the crisis drags on and spreads to energy and food problems around the world, EU foreign ministers are considering a ban on gold imports from Russia. This would be similar to what G-7 allies have already done.

Additional Russian officials could be added to the EU’s blacklist.

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After transmitting the suggested penalties, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, “Moscow must continue to pay a high price for its aggression.”

A senior EU official said Monday would be the first day of sanctions talks, but not a decision.

Moscow announced Saturday that it would speed up military operations more than 20 weeks after invading its neighbour, killing thousands and displacing millions.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of aiming for maximum damage but assured that Ukraine will “endure.”

Mr Zelensky stated in his Saturday evening address that Ukraine has “withstood Russia’s brutal blows” and regained some of the areas it had lost since the beginning of the war, and will eventually retake additional occupied territory.  “We will endure. We will win, “he said, and “rebuild our lives”.

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