Free Republic

United States President Donald Trump has expressed his frustration with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as he believes the latter is "slow-rolling comprehensive ceasefire talks," Fox News reported on Tuesday, citing sources. According to the sources, due to such behavior, the Trump administration is mulling "aggressive" sanctions enforcement that would affect Russia's "shadow fleet," among other things. The sources explained that the sanctions enforcement is currently "low," more specifically "level 3 out of 10." The sources went on to say that some 70% of Russia's illegal oil sales are done with the use of the "shadow fleet."

Estonian authorities detained and boarded a ship in the Baltic Sea that belongs to Russia’s shadow fleet, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said Friday. The vessel, which Michal said did not sail under any nation’s flag but was previously registered to Djibouti according to publicly available records, was detained near Tallinn Bay in an operation involving helicopters. “Early this morning, the Estonian Navy detained a sanctioned vessel with no flag state,” Michal said in a post on social media. “Our authorities are currently on board, inspecting its legal status and safety.” The ship was heading to the port of Ust-Luga, a...