In a statement following her phone call with US President Joe Biden, EC President Ursula von der Leyen announced that they agreed to suspend all the tariffs imposed in the context of the Airbus-Boeing disputes, both on aircraft and non-aircraft products, for an initial period of 4 months. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned once again that Europe's defence depends on close transatlantic bonds. In an interview with AFP, after an address at the College of Europe in Belgium, he welcomed Brussels' efforts to boost spending and streamline its defence industry, but added he was dubious about calls for the continent to develop "strategic autonomy".

In a statement made Wednesday evening, EC Vice-President Šefčovič has expressed the EU's strong concerns over the UK's unilateral action to extend grace periods for Irish Sea border checks underlying that it is set to breach international law. 

The chief EU diplomat in Venezuela left the country on Tuesday, a week after the government of Nicolás Maduro ordered her expulsion following the EU’s decision to impose sanctions on several Venezuelan officials accused of undermining democracy or violating human rights, AP reported.

The EU’s special envoy Miroslav Lajcak on Tuesday called on Kosovo and Serbia to resume talks on normalizing their ties, AP reported. Lajcak is on a three-day visit to Pristina before going to Belgrade. After a White House summit and talks in Brussels in September, the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo has stalled.

The European Union may impose further sanctions on Belarus after Minsk jailed two journalists for filming protests, Poland's state news agency PAP quoted Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau as saying on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to impose sanctions on four top Russian officials, following the crackdown against Alexei Navalny supporters of the Kremlin critic, diplomatic sources said cited by news agencies. The symbolic response came after France, Germany, Poland and the Baltics urged the Union to sanction the Kremlin.

A Russian court on Saturday rejected an appeal by Alexei Navalny and upheld the Kremlin critic's prison sentence, in a case that triggered international condemnation and protests across the country.

Europe and the United States should join forces in the fight against climate change and agree on a new framework for the digital market, limiting the power of big tech companies, European Union chief executive Ursula von der Leyen said.

The EU is stepping efforts to impose further sanctions on Russia with travel bans and asset freezes on allies of President Vladimir Putin possible in March, news wires reported citing diplomats close to the matter. The EU ambassadors on Wednesday gave punitive measures go ahead for further refining.