The sanctioned oil tankers have transported over $24 billion in cargo since 2024, according to Downing Street. The U.K. has now sanctioned more shadow fleet vessels than any other country.
Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
Zelensky talks to reporters while meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Dec. 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Dec. 19 told reporters he plans to reduce government expenditures because significant funding will be needed for fresh mobilization efforts.
“Today we are reducing government spending as much as possible. I am still working to reduce the government even more. But if there are no people there at all, it will be difficult for us to govern the state.”
A U.S. funding package scheduled for later this month will be the final one unless Congress approves additional help, the Biden administration warned Monday.
Washington is struggling to secure more aid for Ukraine, with an additional $61 billion intended for Kyiv currently bogged down in Congress. The U.S. has so far approved $113 billion in aid to Ukraine, including nearly $47 billion in direct military aid.
Ukraine risks a serious economic downturn in 2024 and unless its Western supporters can muster enough funds to fill a massive hole in its budget, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told POLITICO in November.
Russian airstrikes on Ukraine's industrial enterprises have dismantled much of the country's export based economy.
Lance Luo (Li P. Luo) is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. Previously, he worked at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Hromadske Television in Kyiv. He also spent three years in finance and strategy consulting. Mr. Luo graduated from the University of Southern California and serves as an arbitrator at FINRA.
Lance Luo
