"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
"We agreed that a full and unconditional ceasefire must begin on Monday, May 12, for at least 30 days. We jointly demand this from Russia, and we know we are supported in this by the United States," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian media outlet ZN.UA reported on May 10 that their law enforcement sources confirmed an ongoing probe by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau into suspected embezzlement, money laundering and bribery.
Iran is preparing to send Russia Fath-360 short-range ballistic missile launchers, Reuters reported on May 9, citing Western security and regional officials familiar with the matter.
"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
The Fluxys liquefied natural gas terminal in Zeebrugge, on Aug. 23, 2022. (Kurt Desplenter/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)
Belgian gas company Fluxys has been added to the list of "international sponsors of war" for its involvement in the Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade, Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) announced on Nov. 30.
Ukraine added Fluxys to its list for its role in boosting Russia's revenues by providing "storage and transshipment facilities" for Russian LNG at its terminal in Zeebrugge" in Belgium, the NACP said.
"At least a third of the Russian budget goes to war. Fluxys' services help Russia replenish it," Oleksandr Novikov, the head of the NACP, said in a statement.
Russia expects to receive up to $874 million in export tax revenues from the transshipment of LNG in Zeebrugge in 2023, according to the NACP.
Fluxys signed a 20-year contract with Russian company Yamal LNG in March 2015 for the transshipment of up to 8 million tons of LNG per year from Zeebrugge.
The contract supports Russian deliveries of LNG from the Yamal Peninsular to buyers worldwide when the Northern Sea Route is frozen during the winter months.
Arctic tankers deliver the LNG to Zeebrugge, where the gas is transferred to a conventional tanker that sails to Asian ports via the Suez Canal, freeing the Arctic tankers to return to Russia.
The largest shareholder of Yamal LNG is Russian gas company Novatek, Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer in Russia after the state-owned gas company Gazprom.
Novatek's owners are the oligarchs Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Timchenko, who are "members of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle," the NACP said.
Yamal LNG also has a contract with SEFE, a German state-owned company. SEFE said in October that canceling the agreement would cost German taxpayers over $10 billion.
The announcement from NACP comes after the Financial Times reported on Nov. 29 on the significant role the EU plays in the transshipment of Russian LNG, citing data from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
The FT said that of the 17.8 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG imported by the EU between January and September 2023, 21% was transferred to ships headed to countries like China, Japan, and Bangladesh.
While the U.K. and the Netherlands have banned contracts for reshipping Russian LNG, the gas is "routinely transferred between tankers" in EU ports such as Zeebrugge, just 12 kilometers from the Dutch border, before being exported again.
The NACP said that only 7% of Russian LNG imported by Fluxys into Zeebrugge goes to EU markets.
The EU has not imposed sanctions on Russian LNG.
Though pipeline gas imports to Europe decreased sharply in response to Russia's war, EU nations bought record amounts of Russian LNG in 2023.
Alexander Khrebet
