The European Union on Monday formally added almost 1,600 new individuals and entities to its sanctions blacklist over Russia's war on Ukraine, as it seeks to keep pressure on Moscow.

"This is the single largest expansion of our sanctions list since Russia started its war. Europe is again showing a united front. More than half are connected to the production chain for ballistic missiles," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

Ukrainian officials said Monday that Russia has continued to strike Ukraine's energy facilities even after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a day earlier that the warring countries had agreed on an "energy ceasefire" in the 4 1/2-year-old war.

A Monday statement from the Regional Prosecutor's Office of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine said Russian forces had attacked an energy facility on the outskirts of the city. That came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that while he "welcomed" Trump's announcement, Russia was still hitting energy infrastructure in the capital Kyiv and in Kharkiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Donald Trump about Iran's position on a possible Mideast peace deal, the Kremlin said.

Donald Trump called for Ukraine to "get a new leader" after Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Washington's easing of Russian diesel sanctions, as the US president faces fuel price pressure weeks before midterm elections.

U.S President Donald Trump said that he has secured Russia's agreement for a major release of diesel, as he eased war sanctions on Moscow in a push to lower energy costs ahead of midterm elections.

The United States on Friday announced sanctions on the International Criminal Court, vowing to cripple the tribunal's operations just hours after the Nobel Peace Prize went to a former ICC judge who warned of mounting political attacks on the court.

Peace negotiations with Iran would only succeed without "pressure and threats", Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday, amid deadlocked efforts to end months of fighting in the Middle East.

Police and protesters clashed in Brussels on Friday as tens of thousands of people rallied in the Belgian capital against rising living costs and budget-tightening measures introduced by the government.

Dozens of protesters, many of them young, dressed in black and wearing masks, threw rocks and firecrackers at police at the central Brussels railway station, before setting several fires, one to a pile of city bikes and electric scooters.

The European Union on Friday said it had "serious concerns" about democratic standards in Turkey, warning that a crackdown on rights was further undermining Ankara's long-stalled bid to join the bloc.

"Our concerns about democratic standards remain. The latest developments affecting media freedom, the rights of LGBTIQ+ people and local democracy are widening the gap with Turkey's objective of joining the EU," EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos told journalists in the northwestern Turkish city of Edirne.

The United Nations said Friday it was watching "with concern" school protests in France that have resulted in thousands of youngsters being arrested and several seriously injured.

"We are following with concern incidents related to the student protests and high school blockades in France, some of which have turned violent," said Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UN human rights agency, urging people on all sides to ensure they remain peaceful.