US Treasury Department officials unveiled a new raft of sanctions on Thursday, with targets including several yachts allegedly linked to Mr Putin and a cellist who allegedly acts as a middleman for the Russian leader.
US officials will seek to seize two vessels, the Russian-flagged Graceful and the Cayman islands-flagged Olympia, which were identified as personal assets of Mr Putin.
The cellist, Sergei Roldugin, is allegedly a custodian of the Russian president’s offshore wealth.
The 70-year-old was joined by five oligarchs with links to Mr Putin, as well as Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who will all see any US assets frozen and are barred from doing business with American-based corporations.
EU diplomats are said to have finalised a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow.
The sanctions, which include a limited ban on Russian oil imports, were reportedly agreed after officials accepted a Hungarian request to remove the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, from the list of targets.
The president of the European Parliament also announced a ban on Russian lobbyists entering the chamber’s campus.
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Roberta Metsola wrote on Twitter that she was keen to deprive Moscow’s representatives of the ability “to spread their propaganda & false, toxic narratives about the invasion of Ukraine”.
A top aide to President Zelensky says the UK has agreed to supply the M270 multiple-rocket system (MLRS) to Ukraine, seen as a military game-changer by experts.
Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff, wrote on Telegram that the weapons “not only help [us] liberate all our territories but also prevent many threats to the West”.
Slovakia’s defence ministry announced it would deliver eight self-propelled Zuzana 2 Howitzers to Ukraine.
The cannon, a modernised version of an older model, uses 155-mm rounds and has an effective range of 40-50km (25-30 miles) depending on the ammunition type.
And the Turkish drone manufacturer, Baykar, has donated a Bayraktar TB2 drone to Lithuania, on the understanding it will be given to Ukraine to help fight Russian forces.
Baykar said it had donated the drone for free so that money raised in Lithuania to buy it would be given instead as humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that the US would supply Ukraine with new long-range missiles capable of hitting targets at distances of up to 70km (45 miles).
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the US and its allies of intentionally prolonging the war and of “adding fuel to the fire” with the deliveries.
BBC