WhatsApp should prepare to leave the Russian market, a lawmaker who regulates the IT sector said on Friday, warning that the messaging app owned by Meta Platforms was likely to be put on a list of restricted software.

The 27-nation E.U. also approved a plan to lower the price cap on Russian crude oil and ban transactions with 22 more Russian banks.

Former Russian President Medvedev calls for preemptive strikes while Trump gives Putin a 50-day ultimatum to reach peace with Ukraine or face sanctions.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused "neocolonial" Western powers of modern "robbery and looting" in the pursuit of rare earth metals to gain an advantage in the artificial intelligence race.

In the last two months, cellphone internet shutdowns, which officials say are needed to foil Ukrainian drones, have hit dozens of Russian regions — from those near the fighting to parts of Siberia and even the Far East. Some Wi-Fi outages also have been reported.

US President Donald Trump’s 50-day pause ahead of possible secondary sanctions on Russia gifts the Kremlin a window to exploit the incremental gains of recent weeks in Ukraine’s east.

China has welcomed a Russian proposal for the restoration of a three-member bloc with India, saying cooperation would be in their interests and would contribute to peace and security, raising the prospect of a revitalized alliance that could challenge U.

President Trump’s plan to impose a 100 percent tariff on Russian goods could raise the cost of urea, a key fertilizer in corn and other row crops.