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The moves are part of the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign on Iran to help weaken its terrorist activities in the Middle East, including through its use of proxy forces. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the United States will impose secondary sanctions on all countries or individuals that purchase oil or petrochemicals from Iran. The announcement comes a day after the State Department sanctioned seven entities it accused of trading Iranian oil and petrochemical products. The president confirmed the new secondary sanctions in a post on Truth Social, warning countries they would not be allowed to do business with...

Newly-declassified memos written by disgraced FBI official Andrew McCabe shine new light on how he kept the Trump-Russia collusion hoax investigation alive during a critical period in the first half of 2017 before he got it handed off to a special counsel. The eight memos penned by McCabe, most of which had never been released until earlier this month, span his discussions and meetings (including with President Donald Trump) held from January 24, 2017 to May 21, 2017 — a critical time period ranging from just before the FBI sprung an interview on retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn to just...

In general, the West should be horrified not by the 76 percent who backed Putin but by the fact that in the Russian elections: patriotic, communist and nationalist ideas were supported by 95 percent of the population, leaving the liberal ideas with a pathetic five percent. And you, my Western friends, are guilty of this. By your hostility and sanctions, you have pushed the Russian people into the arms of the Moscow regime. Had you behaved sensibly and reached compromises, this outcome would not have occurred; but now that it has, the West must assume all responsibility. As a result,...

US President Donald Trump has prolonged by another year anti-Russian sanctions imposed by his predecessor, Joe Biden, suggesting that Moscow continues to pose a serious threat to the country's national security. Washington slapped punitive measures on Russia after it absorbed Crimea as a result of a referendum back in 2014, and later over Moscow's supposed meddling in American electoral processes, with the sanctions having been considerably stepped up following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The document dated April 10, 2025, has appeared on the Federal Register's website, announcing the "Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect...

The United States imposed new sanctions on five Iranian entities and one individual accused of supporting Iran’s nuclear program. IRNA - The United States Department of the Treasury issued new sanctions against Iran just two days after President Donald Trump announced plans for discussions with Tehran regarding its nuclear program. In a statement on Wednesday, the Treasury identified five Iranian entities and one individual as targets for their alleged support of Iran’s nuclear program. Among the designated groups were the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and its subsidiary, the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company. The sanctions also included Majid Mosallat, head...

One country that did not feature on Donald Trump's list of tariffs on US trade partners was Russia. US outlet Axios quoted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt as saying this was because existing US sanctions on Russia "preclude any meaningful trade" and noting that Cuba, Belarus and North Korea were also not included. However, nations with even less trade with the US - such as Syria, which exported $11m of products last year according to UN data quoted by Trading Economics - were on the list. The US imposed large-scale sanctions on Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine...

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."

The United States is ready to go "all in" on sanctions against Russia, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared, signaling the administration's readiness to impose even harsher measures to pressure Moscow into peace negotiations. -snip- Bessent was critical of former US President Joe Biden's sanctions approach, describing them as "egregiously weak," particularly when it came to Russian energy. He argued that the weakness in these sanctions allowed Russia's military operations to continue, largely because of concerns about rising energy prices in the US. "A major factor that has enabled the Russian war machine's continued financing was the Biden administration's egregiously...

The Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress say they will fully enforce sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and are prepared to expand them in response to recent efforts from top ICC officials to evade the measures. Earlier this month, Judge Tomoko Akane, the ICC’s president, petitioned the European Union to invoke what is known as the blocking statute, a legal maneuver that shields EU members from sanctions issued by third-party countries such as the United States. Akane told the EU’s parliament "it is obvious the court cannot survive alone," warning them that "the time to act...

Russia launched an overnight drone strike against the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, just hours after the US announced that Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to a maritime ceasefire, authorities said. The mayor of Mykolaiv said on Wednesday morning that the city was experiencing emergency power outages. Meanwhile, the region's governor confirmed that the Ukrainian military had destroyed seven Russian drones in the region overnight. -snip- Although Moscow and Kyiv agreed to a Black Sea ceasefire after three days of separate talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, questions remain about its implementation. Speaking on Tuesday, Zelenskyy...

The withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukraine would be one of the main conditions to lift or amend EU sanctions, a European Commission spokesperson said on Wednesday. European Union countries renewed the bloc’s two sanctions frameworks on Russia for another six months at the end of January and earlier this month. Any changes to sanctions require unanimity among its 27 member states. “The end of the Russian unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions,”...

Deportation flights to Venezuela resumed on Sunday after a weeks-long standoff between the Trump administration and the Venezuelan government, signaling a deal had been reached between the two countries. A flight carrying 199 illegal aliens – including members of the violent Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang – to Venezuela landed Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital. The Trump administration has vowed to strike a deal with the Venezuelan government to accept flights carrying deportees from the United States, but has been limited in the regularity of the transfers after President Nicholás Maduro halted the...

President Trump directed US Attorney General Pam Bond to pursue penalties against law firms and lawyers that lodge “frivolous” litigation against the government. Trump pointed to civil procedure rules barring lawyers from lodging legal filings to “harass” or “cause unnecessary delay” and asked Bondi, 59, to recommend additional steps he could take to fight back. “Far too many attorneys and law firms have long ignored these requirements when litigating against the Federal Government or in pursuing baseless partisan attacks,” Trump said in a presidential memorandum the White House released Saturday. “I hereby direct the Attorney General to seek sanctions against...

The Trump administration is placing more restrictions on Russia's oil, gas and banking sectors by further restricting Russian access to U.S. payment systems, according to four people familiar with the plans. The Treasury Department on Wednesday let lapse a 60-day exemption put in place by the Biden administration in January that allowed specific energy transactions involving sanctioned Russian banks to continue. By letting the waiver lapse, the banks may no longer access U.S. payment systems to conduct major energy transactions. The Russian financial institutions that had been exempt from sanctions included Vnesheconombank, Bank Financial Corporation Otkritie, Sovcombank, Sberbank, VTB Bank,...

As the Trump administration seeks to mediate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced that he plans to propose "bone-breaking sanctions and tariffs" this week in a bid to goad Russia into making peace.The U.S. and Ukraine declared in a joint statement on Tuesday that Ukraine would be willing to agree to a 30-day ceasefire."Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation," the statement noted.But Graham...

President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for more sanctions against Russia after massive air strikes pounded Ukraine for a second straight night, killing at least 20 people, even amid reports his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal Moscow, meanwhile, claimed it’s retaken three towns in Kursk, Russia, with some reports saying Ukrainian troops in the region are surrounded.

President Trump on Friday in a social media post said he was '...strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.'

President Trump threatened massive sanctions against Russia on Friday over its continued attacks on Ukraine as he attempts to broker a cease-fire in the more than three-year war between the nations. “Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!”

The U.S. ambassador to Germany urged Berlin on Tuesday to stop Iran withdrawing large sums of cash from bank accounts in Germany to offset the effect of new U.S. sanctions imposed after Washington withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal. Richard Grenell, a longtime critic of the accord, told the mass-circulation daily Bild that the U.S. government was extremely concerned about Tehran’s plans to transfer hundreds of millions of euros in cash to Iran. “We encourage the highest levels of the German government to intervene and stop the plan,” Grenell said. […] Bild first reported on Monday that German authorities were...

President Trump extended sanctions against Russia. Virtually missing from MSM as it does not fit the "Trump loves Putin" narrative. EO at link.