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The European Council has announced that it will extend sanctions on Russia for another six months, until 15 September 2023. In a statement released on Monday (13 March), the Council announced: "The existing restrictive measures provide for travel restrictions for natural persons, the freezing of assets, and a ban on making funds or other economic resources available to the listed individuals and entities. Sanctions will continue to apply to 1,473 individuals and 205 entities, many of which are targeted in response to Russia’s ongoing unjustified and unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine."The statement continued: "After 24 February 2022, in response to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the EU massively expanded sanctions against Russia with the aim of significantly weakening Russia's economic base, depriving it of critical technologies and markets, and significantly curtailing its ability to wage war."

A passenger train and a freight train have collided near the city of Larissa in northern Greece on the evening of Tuesday (28 February), killing at least 36 people and injuring at least 66, six of whom are in intensive care. It is not yet known what caused the crash, and rescuers were working through the night to try and free survivors. The passenger train has been said to have been carrying some 350 people when it collided with the freight train. Speaking on state television, Costas Agorastos, the regional governor of the Thessaly region, said the impact was “very powerful”. “The front section of the train was smashed," he said. "We’re getting cranes to come in and special lifting equipment to clear the debris and lift the rail cars. There’s debris flung all around the crash site.” Speaking to Reuters news agency, passenger Stergios Minenis said: "We heard a big bang...It was a nightmarish ten seconds. We were turning over in the carriage until we fell on our sides and until the commotion stopped. Then there was panic. Cables, fire. The fire was immediate. As we were turning over we were being burned. Fire was right and left. For ten, fifteen seconds it was chaos.

The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has arrived in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Thursday (23 February), one day before the one year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The visit from PM Sanchez comes one day after Spain confirmed that it would send six refurbished Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, with the goal to have the tanks in Ukraine by the end of March or early April. Writing on Twitter, PM Sanchez said, "We will stand by Ukraine and its people until peace returns to Europe." He has also visited Bucha, the Kyiv suburb infamously known as the site of many alleged Russian war crimes against civilians in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion. "Bucha and Irpin show the wounds and scars of Putin's barbarism. Russia is not going to win this war. All of Spain is with Ukraine," he said. Sanchez's visit is the latest in a number of high-profile visits to Kyiv in the run up to the 24 February. US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit on Monday during which he pledged another $500m of military aid. Then, on Tuesday, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Kyiv for talks with President Zelensky, during which she pledged to continue supporting Ukraine in resisting Russian attacks but ruled out offering fighter jets.

On Tuesday (21 February), a delegation of six Ukrainians, including two representatives from the National Interests Advocacy Network NGO “ANTS”, and four representatives from the cities of Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Mariupol, visited the LINKS Europe in The Hague. The Ukrainian delegation included: Vasyl Sehin, the Executive Director of ANTS; Yuliya Vusenko, the regional coordinator of ANTS and the head of the investment commission in Volyn Oblast Council; Olexandr Senkevych, the Mayor of Mykolaiv; Serhii Koreniev, the Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv; Halyna Luhova, the Mayor, Secretary and Head of the Military Administration of Kherson; and Sergiy Orlov, the Deputy Mayor of Mariupol. The Ukrainian delegation were on a two-day visit to Rotterdam and The Hague to meet with Dutch civil society and city representatives to discuss potential future cooperation between the respective organisations and cities, with a particular focus on developing horizontal EU-Ukraine ties and harnessing knowledge for the reconstruction of Ukraine following the ongoing war’s conclusion.

One day after addressing the UK Parliament in the Palace of Westminster in London, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday (9 February). Entering the hemicycle shortly after 11am local time, Zelensky was greeted by MEPs with a standing ovation. President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola opened proceedings with a short speech in which she praised Ukraine's courage in its fight for European values, which "binds all peoples across the continent as sisters and brothers." Referring to Ukraine's ongoing campaign to join the EU, about which some member states have a deal of scepticism and concern, Metsola called on EU leaders to ensure that Ukraine gets "the fastest possible accession process", coupled with funds for reconstruction and more heavy weapons to repel Russia's invasion, including "long-range systems and the jets". "Our response must be proportional to the threat and the threat is existential," Metsola said. Rounding off her introduction, she told Zelensky, "We have your back. We were with you then. We are with you now. We will be with you for as long as it takes. Freedom will prevail, peace will reign and you will win. Slava Ukraini!"