USA Trump orders blockade of sanctioned oil tankers to and from Venezuela Trump's escalation comes after U.S. forces last week seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, an unusual move that followed a buildup of military forces in the region. 17/12/2025
World News US lifts sanctions on Belarusian potash, Lukashenko releases 123 more political prisoners The US presidential envoy announced the lifting of sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilisers. In return, Aliaksandr Lukashenka released a large group of political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and one of the opposition leaders Maria Kolesnikova 13/12/2025
Europe News Two Russian shadow fleet tankers on fire off Turkiye's coast Two sanctioned oil tankers, the Kairos and the Virat, have caught fire in the Black Sea a few dozen nautical miles off the Turkish coast. Their crews are safe as the causes of the explosions are being investigated. 28/11/2025
Europe News Ukraine peace talks: What's at stake for the Europeans? Initially sidelined, Europeans want to muscle their way back to the peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia by leveraging the key issues that can only be settled with their consent. But what are they? Analysis: 25/11/2025
Economy Italian firms in Russia lead to €1bn boost for Kremlin war coffers Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Italian companies paid over €1 billion in taxes to Russia, half of which went to military spending to finance the ongoing destruction of Ukraine. 11/11/2025
Business Swiss firm Gunvor drops plan to buy Lukoil assets after US resistance “As long as Putin continues the senseless killings, the Kremlin’s puppet, Gunvor, will never get a licence to operate and profit,” said the US Treasury in an X post on Thursday. 07/11/2025
Syria UN lifts sanctions against Syria's al-Sharaa before White House visit The sanctions relief fulfils the Trump administration's pledges following the US leader's May meeting with al-Sharaa in Riyadh, during which he promised to lift or waive decades-old sanctions against Syria. 07/11/2025
France Risky to stay, costly to go: French companies in Russia face dilemma Many French corporate giants have withdrawn from the Russian market, either because of the difficulties of doing business in a heavily sanctioned country or the potential PR disaster of staying. 05/11/2025
Ukraine Zelenskyy: Ukraine strikes cut Russia's oil refining capacity by 20% Oil exports play a key role in funding Russia's invasion of Ukraine and new sanctions from the EU and US aim to cut into Moscow's oil and gas export earnings. 28/10/2025
Russia Putin dismisses US sanctions, Trump replies ‘We will see' Russia’s president downplayed the latest US sanctions as an “unfriendly act” which he claims would not have much impact on Russia’s economy or its stance on Moscow’s war in Ukraine. His comments were largely dismissed by Donald Trump, who said, “I am glad he feels this way”. 24/10/2025
Europe News EU leaders kick can down the road on reparation loan for Ukraine EU leaders have vowed to return to the thorny issue of leveraging immobilised Russian assets as an extraordinary loan to Ukraine in December's summit. 22/10/2025
Europe News Threat of EU sanctions against Israel still on the table, Kallas says The 27 European ministers of foreign affairs, who were meeting in Luxembourg, considered the situation in Gaza too "fragile" to withdraw possible sanctions against Israel. 20/10/2025
USA Chinese airlines protest US plan to ban flights over Russian airspace The Kremlin shuts its airspace to US airlines in 2022 in response to Western sanctions over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 15/10/2025
Europe News EU envoy calls on the US to rejoin the West on Russian sanctions David O'Sullivan, the EU's sanctions envoy, told Euronews he hopes the US will return to a policy of applying new sanctions against Russia. 14/10/2025
Serbia US sanctions Serbia's main oil supplier over Russian-majority control The measures, which Washington has postponed six times, could lead to fuel shortages and price increases in Serbia. 09/10/2025
Europe News MEPs face backlash over controversial meeting with Russian lawmakers A controversial meeting between European lawmakers and Russian State Duma MPs sparked outrage among other MEPs, who said it violated European Parliament rules and demanded disciplinary action. 03/10/2025
France Captain of oil tanker linked to Russia's shadow fleet to go on trial in France The ship, which was boarded by the French navy over the weekend, remains off the country's Atlantic coast. 02/10/2025
Europe News MEPs urge support for Iranian civil society three years after Mahsa Amini's death Repression is intensifying in Iran, warn human rights activists and MEPs. 24/09/2025
EU Decoded Can the EU overcome divergence over sanctions against Israel? The President of the European Commission proposed punitive measures against Israel for the first time, due to the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. However, Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged that approving sanctions will be difficult, given the divisions among EU member states. 23/09/2025
Europe News EU court annuls Council’s Pumpyanskiy sanctions decision again The EU Council listed the former Russian businessman on the basis of executive positions he no longer held at the time of the sanctions decision. The court says that's unjustified. 11/09/2025