US President Joe Biden will meet virtually on Friday with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's conflict with Ukraine and announce new sanctions against those aiding Russia's war effort, the White House said.
The same group came together last year hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, imposing the first round of a series of sanctions.
"The G7 has become an anchor of our strong and united response to Russia," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday. The leaders on Friday will discuss "how we continue supporting Ukraine" and ways to increase pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine a year ago, she said.
The sanctions will include Russian banks, technology and defense sectors, and will impact both people and companies involved in the conflict, according to Jean-Pierre.
The US will also announce a fresh Ukrainian aid package that will include economic, security and energy support, she added.
South Korea and the United States will cut short annual joint military drills to five days from 11 and scale back some field training, the allies said on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in US participation.
At least 100 people were killed when a low-tech artisanal gold mine collapsed in the Central African Republic on Tuesday, a senior official at a local mining association said.
An Israeli airstrike killed nine Palestinians at a police station in Gaza on Wednesday, medics said, two days after US envoy Jared Kushner ended a trip to the region that failed to push forward Donald Trump's plan to end the war in the enclave.
Thai schools conducted active shooter drills on Wednesday, as authorities moved to strengthen security measures two weeks after a 14-year-old opened fire at a school and killed at least eight people.