The EU is deciding whether to loan tens of billions of euros of Russian money to fund Ukraine's military and economic needs.

A core question for European Union leaders discussing whether to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine is whether the idea is legally sound.

The European Union has imposed sanctions on five businessmen linked to Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.

As the war between Russia and Ukraine persists, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his nation's "troops are advancing," The Associated Press reported.

The EU Council on Thursday imposed sanctions on 41 additional vessels linked to Russia's so-called "shadow fleet," aimed at targeting the Kremlin's energy revenues amid its ongoing war in Ukraine. The newly sanctioned vessels will face a ban on access to EU ports and restrictions on a broad range of maritime services, an EU Council statement said.