Ladson family

Von der Leyen and Borrell left for Kyiv last night by train from Przemyl, Poland, about 13 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
Von der Leyen is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

Looking forward to Kyiv.@JosepBorrellF @eduardheger pic.twitter.com/YFAgGr5Tlc

Greece has declared 12 Russian diplomats persona non grata. The European Union will also sanction the import of Russian oil, the President of the European Commission told the European Parliament.

Ursula von der Leyen presented the restrictions announced on Tuesday, including a ban on buying Russian coal.

Bulgaria's Recovery and Sustainability Plan has been finally approved by Brussels, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said:

"We can all congratulate each other that Bulgaria already has a very good and working plan."

The European Union has taken the unprecedented step of allowing arms shipments to Ukraine following Russia's invasion.

At a press conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the move marked a "turning point" in EU history.

Another difficult night around the Russia-Ukraine conflict. A series of international reactions and new sanctions mark the fourth night of shelling.

Sanctions

The EU's ombudsman today criticized the European Commission for failing to release text messages between its president, Ursula von der Leyen, and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Reuters reported.

The two exchanged text messages before concluding the deal for the vaccines against COVID-19 between the EC and the pharmaceutical giant.

Ursula von der Leyen pointed out that further cooperation in the future on the development of quality projects under the €30 billion Investment Plan for the Western Balkans has been agreed.

The Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovachevski and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen talked on the phone yesterday, and among the topics discussed was the visit of Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov to Skopje this week, MIA reported, citing a government press release.

The European Commission will not recommend mandatory vaccination against COVID-19.

This was stated today by a spokesman for the commission in response to questions related to statements by EC President Ursula von der Leyen, quoted by BTA.

As a reminder, the World Health Organization will hold an emergency meeting today on the occasion of the appearance of a new strain of coronavirus.
However, some countries have already started canceling flights from that part of the world. According to world media, Italy has banned people coming from South Africa from entering Italy due to a new variant of coronavirus.