EU hits Russia with more sanctions, set to snub Ukraine on swift membership

EU targets 160 Russians, including oligarchs, also slaps sanctions on Belarus central bank, three lenders; EU leaders to discuss war in Ukraine at summit on Thursday

The European Union announced fresh sanctions against Russia and its ally Belarus on Wednesday but EU leaders are set to rebuff Kyiv's appeal for accelerated membership of the bloc when they meet on Thursday to discuss Russia's war in Ukraine.

The 27-nation EU blacklisted 14 more oligarchs and froze ties with Belarus' central bank and top lenders there, the executive European Commission said on the 14th day of a war that has sent two million Ukrainians fleeing abroad.

Speaking ahead of the leaders' summit on Thursday and Friday at Versailles, near Paris, an EU official left no doubt that Kyiv's appeal to