Belgium

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.

The Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine outside the EU needs more funding, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said, calling on allies to provide more money to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.

44 countries support the creation of a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and the Netherlands has offered to host it.

Belgian Agriculture Minister David Clarinval reported progress in meeting the demands of angry European farmers, but said the EU should continue to seek all possible solutions to calm their concerns about problems such as high commodity prices, extreme weather and low agricultural income.

Belgium proposes to use bonds secured by frozen Russian assets to maximize funds for Ukraine, potentially generating much more than the current €3 billion from these assets.

In the semifinals of the Euro 2024 playoffs, Ukraine will play Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the winner will face Israel or Iceland for a ticket to the tournament.

Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, believes that Europe should create its own version of the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system.

The Ukrainian women's sabre fencing team won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.

Iran has used European ports in Belgium, Spain, and Italy to smuggle weapons, including missiles and bombs, to Hezbollah in Lebanon via Syria to avoid Israeli air strikes on Iranian weapons shipments.

More than two dozen heads of parliamentary foreign affairs committees, including the United States and Israel, signed a statement denying the legitimacy of the elections held by Russia in the occupied Ukrainian territories.

Ukraine has a clear procedure on its way to EU membership and is systematically following it, and President Zelenskyy hopes to start negotiations in the first half of this year after the European Commission approves the framework for negotiations.

The head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, has proposed a plan to "normalize relations" with Georgia, including the release of Mikheil Saakashvili from prison, the termination of direct flights between Georgia and Russia, and the prevention of Russia's evasion of sanctions, in response to Georgia's demands that it extradite former Georgian officials from Saakashvili's presidency who now hold positions in Ukraine.