The European Union is seeking to transport more Ukrainian grains via road and rail to help make up for Russia's withdrawal from a U.N.-backed Black Sea exports deal, the bloc's leaders and officials said.
The EU's latest draft of new sanctions against Russia would make it more difficult than originally proposed to cut trade with third countries over busting existing restrictions, a document showed, after Berlin warned against targeting China.
Germany led calls urging caution against targeting China under new European Union sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine during a first discussion among the bloc's 27 countries on proposed new restrictions, five diplomatic sources said.
With ten rounds of sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, the European Union has rolled out its toughest punishment ever against a foreign country.
Euro zone business activity accelerated last month but the bounce may be temporary as demand growth weakened and fears about the Omicron coronavirus variant put a dent in optimism, a survey showed on Friday.