The European Commission has proposed to ban selling oil tankers to Russia to slow down the country's growing hydrocarbon exports that bypass Western sanctions, Reuters reported on Nov. 17.
Any sales of tankers to a third country would include clauses forbidding the subsequent resale of ships to Russia or freighting Russian oil products in defiance of Western price caps, such as $60 per barrel of crude.
"The price cap mechanism relies on an attestation process that enables operators in the supply chain of sea-borne Russian oil to demonstrate that it has been purchased at or below the price cap," Reuters reported, citing the document.
Russia's hydrocarbon exports are a major source of the revenue it uses to maintain its war machine. After sanctions and import restrictions on Russian resources to Western markets, Russia has intensified the sale of oil to countries that haven't joined in, such as India and China.
Besides producing weapons and ammunition, oil revenue can also be used to pay competitive salaries to mercenaries and contract soldiers, enticing them to fight for against Ukraine.
Most Popular
Ukraine destroys nearly 6,000 Russian FPV drones in major strike on military targets, General Staff says
Ukraine confirms drone strike on Russia's Volgograd oil refinery, Rubicon barracks in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Ukraine to open 10 weapons export centers in Europe in 2026 in major wartime policy shift
Pope Leo sends 80 generators, thousands of medical supplies to Ukraine
Russian losses in Ukraine 'astonishing,' former MI6 chief says
News Feed Show More
Thursday, February 12
(Updated: )
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the ballistic missiles were targeting the city's infrastructure facilities.
(Updated: )
Ukrainian drones struck a Russian military plant in Michurinsk, Tambov Oblast, and a Defense Ministry site in Kotluban, Volgograd Oblast, overnight on Feb. 11-12, independent media and local authorities reported.
Thursday, February 12
Short track speed skater Oleh Handei said his helmet bore a line from Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko: "Where there is heroism, there is no final defeat." It was banned from the Olympics on the grounds of being a "political slogan."
(Updated: )
According to the president, the negotiations would be hosted by the U.S. and will take place on Feb. 17 and Feb. 18. The talks, however, depend on Russia's agreement to take part, something that Ukraine and the U.S. have not yet received.
"I am absolutely confident that if ... there is no date, then Russia will do everything to block the process," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 11.
(Updated: )Elections
European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
(Updated: )
A Russian strike on Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv Oblast, killed four people, including three toddlers, and injured two others, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported overnight Feb. 11.
The messages come a week after Ukraine's defense ministry agreed with Starlink's parent company, SpaceX, to introduce mandatory registration for the internet terminals in Ukraine, a move meant to prevent their use by Russian forces.
(Updated: )
Kyiv Independent reporters on the ground reported hearing two explosions around 2:50 p.m. local time.
"We have been discussing the training of Ukrainian soldiers, also on the soil of Ukraine," Kaja Kallas, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, said in Brussels on Feb. 11 before a meeting of EU defense ministers.
