Europe: On Thursday, European Union countries were unable to reach an agreement on a set of sanctions against Russia considering the country's one-year anniversary of invading Ukraine. Despite their best efforts, the EU nations were ultimately unsuccessful in forming a viable plan.

The 27 European Union countries must come to a unanimous agreement in order to implement sanctions. Sources indicated that Poland has been blocking the package due to an exemption being proposed for the EU's ban on imports of Russian synthetic rubber.

Poland's diplomats recently claimed that the exemptions proposed to Italy, which has the backing of Germany, were so extensive that they would effectively nullify the sanctions.

Representatives of the member states were set to come together once again at 0900 GMT on Friday - the day that Russia invaded Ukraine one year ago – to finalize a deal, according to sources.