Belgium

Ukraine and Belgium have begun negotiations on a security cooperation agreement, following President Zelenskyy's order and his recent conversation with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Kroo.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron warns that the West has not learned a lesson from russia's invasion of Ukraine and must be tougher on authoritarian opponents in a tougher world.

Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis and former chief rabbi of moscow, will receive the Charlemagne International Prize for his outstanding contribution to the unification of Europe and his commitment to interreligious exchange.

Ukraine is preparing meetings and documents that will make news in the coming weeks, including new visits by partners, new security agreements, the start of negotiations with the European Union in June, and preparations for the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland.

Ukraine is working to ensure global representation and participation of leaders at the upcoming Peace Summit in Switzerland to restore the full force and effectiveness of the UN Charter to achieve a just peace.

President Zelenskyy held phone conversations with the prime ministers of Spain and Belgium, who confirmed their participation in the inaugural Peace Summit in Switzerland on June 15-16, and discussed defense cooperation and Ukraine's integration into the EU.

The European Union is proposing to ban political parties, think tanks and other groups from accepting funding from Russia, as well as to ban the use of the Russian central bank's financial messaging system as part of the next package of sanctions against Russia.

During his inaugural speech, Putin said that Moscow “does not refuse to engage in dialogue with Western countries” and spoke about the Russian Federation.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz supports the use of up to 90% of frozen russian assets to finance arms purchases for Ukraine.

Over the past five years, the amount of cocaine seized in the port of Hamburg has tripled, making it the third most important port for drug cartels in Europe after Antwerp and Rotterdam.

The European Commission has sent the EU countries a draft of the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes restrictions on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, a ban on transshipment of Russian LNG in European ports, sanctions against the Russian "shadow fleet" transporting oil, restrictions on trade with more than 50 non-EU companies that help Russia avoid sanctions, and a ban on Russian funding of political parties and non-governmental organizations in the EU.

Despite Ukraine's insistence, the G7 countries reportedly no longer have the idea of full confiscation of frozen Russian assets on the table, instead exploring alternative ways to obtain funds from these assets to support Ukraine.

The U. S. imposed new sanctions targeting Russia's military-industrial base, chemical and biological weapons programs, and companies and individuals in third countries that help Russia wage war against Ukraine.

Belgium will supply Ukraine with up to 4 F-16 fighter jets by the end of 2023, earlier than the previously planned delivery date of 2025, with the costs covered by taxes on Russian assets.

U. S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that direct confiscation of Russian assets is one possibility, but that these assets could also serve as collateral for borrowing to help Ukraine, according to an interview with Reuters.

A U. S. proposal to use future interest on $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine instead of confiscating them outright is gaining momentum among the G7 countries, and officials are seeking consensus on the plan at the upcoming summit in June.

Millennials in the United States overwhelmingly support a four-day workweek, and 74% want to reduce their workday, a recent survey found, citing improved work-life balance and productivity as key benefits.

The US is calling on the EU to lower taxes on income from frozen Russian assets to maximize the funds that can be lent to Ukraine, potentially up to $50 billion this summer, by issuing bonds or loans to be repaid with interest from those assets.

The documentary In Search of Nika, about Russia's crimes against animals during its invasion of Ukraine, premiered on April 19 and will be available on YouTube in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has developed a new methodology for assessing the effectiveness of scientific and technical activities of scientific institutions and higher education institutions, which will allow evaluating scientific work according to new criteria, including research that contributes to the development of Ukraine, with the mandatory participation of international experts and transparency through a digital system.

The crews of two mine countermeasures ships provided by the United Kingdom have already been trained and are on duty, and three more ships from the Netherlands and Belgium are expected to arrive, giving Ukraine at least five mine countermeasures ships in total.

Belgian authorities have launched an investigation into a Moscow-funded influence network in the European Parliament that paid MEPs to promote the Russian agenda. The network was uncovered by Czech and Polish intelligence agencies on the eve of the European Parliament elections.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Kroo said that Belgium supports the training of Ukrainian pilots for F-16s and hopes that the first delivery will take place in May, but Belgium still needs the F-16s themselves until they are replaced by F-35s.

EU leaders will discuss the supply of air defense systems, including Patriot batteries, to Ukraine at the upcoming summit in Brussels on April 17-18.

Six North Sea countries have signed an agreement to ensure common security standards to protect critical underwater infrastructure, such as energy pipelines and cables, from foreign sabotage and attack.

The position of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary remains vacant in 30 Ukrainian embassies in different countries, including the UK, Belarus, Ghana and others, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Human Resources Department reports.

Six European countries - Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Denmark and Norway - have signed a pact to invest and cooperate in protecting critical infrastructure such as cables and oil and gas installations in the North Sea.

The EU has temporarily agreed to duty-free trade for Ukraine until June 2025, but with the possibility of imposing restrictions on sensitive agricultural products such as poultry, eggs, sugar, oats, cereals, corn, and honey if imports exceed the average level from July 2021 to December 2023.

Ukraine's national football team has risen to 22nd place in the FIFA rankings after qualifying for Euro 2024 with victories over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland.

In order to effectively protect the rights of servicemen and their families, Ukraine has established the Central Department for the Protection of the Rights of Servicemen, an institution of a military ombudsman.