EU Drops Sanctions on Lukoil Founder and Russian Patriarch

The European Union will not impose sanctions on the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and the chief of Russia’s largest private oil company, after Bulgaria vetoed the proposal. Patriarch Kirill, a vocal supporter of President Vladimir Putin and public backer of the war on Ukraine, had been expected to be included in the latest round of financial penalties that the 27-member bloc was considering. Kirill “consistently justified and supported Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine,” calling it “