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President Trump publicly cast doubt Monday on the need for a bipartisan sanctions bill meant to ratchet up economic pressure on Russia to end its bloody war on Ukraine. “I’m not sure we need it,” Trump quipped during an Oval Office meeting with NATO boss Mark Rutte. “It could be very useful, we will have to see.” The Senate bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), would put 500% tariffs on purchasers of Russian energy — including uranium, gas, and oil. “The 500[% figure] is sort of meaningless after a while because at a certain point...

It wasn’t that long ago that Venezuela, which possesses the world’s largest crude oil reserves, was a relatively stable democracy with one of Latin America’s fastest-rising economies. It was a nation so awash in petroleum revenues that the socialist government of the late former President Hugo Chavez spent huge amounts on social programs and, at one point, even provided free heating oil for impoverished Americans. But starting in 2014, the South American nation began suffering a startling collapse. With Venezuela’s gross domestic product plummeting even more than the United States during the Great Depression, many of its nearly 32 million...

The Biden administration has made a deal with Iran to release $6 billion in frozen funds in exchange for the release of five American prisoners. The agreement issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer sanctioned Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions includes the release of five Iranian citizens held in the U.S. The Iranian-Americans include businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Shargi, 58, along with environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the deal late last week, but Congress was not notified of the decision until Monday,...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Tuesday that the Senate will move “soon” on a “tough” Russia sanctions bill that will also penalize the Kremlin’s top energy recipients, China and India. “President @realDonaldTrump is spot on about the games Putin is playing,” Graham said in a Tuesday post on X. “The Senate will move soon on a tough sanctions bill – not only against Russia – but also against countries like China and India that buy Russian energy products that finance Putin’s war machine. The Senate bill has a presidential waiver to give President Trump maximum leverage.” “When it comes to...

Three-quarters of the Americans who voted for President Trump in 2024 are backing further economic sanctions on Russia as it continues its war against Ukraine, a new poll shows. The Vandenberg Coalition in late June found that around 77% of Trump voters viewed Russia as a threat, 75% backed additional sanctions, and 70% said it was “vital to prevent Russia from invading other European nations,” according to results obtained exclusively by The Post. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) revealed Sunday that Trump had given him the go-ahead on a bill he introduced to tighten sanctions on Moscow. “If you’re buying products...

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on any country aligned with the BRICS group of nations, which includes Russia, delivering a potential economic blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The bloc—which also consists of Brazil, India, China, South Africa and five other emerging economies—held a summit over the weekend in which it condemned Trump's "indiscriminate" import tariffs and the Israeli-U. S. strikes on Iran. Trump posted on Truth Social late on Sunday that "any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10 percent Tariff," adding: "There will...

"There will be no exceptions to this policy," the US leader warnedWASHINGTON, July 7. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on countries supporting policies being pursued by the BRICS grouping. "Any country aligning themselves with the anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an additional 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy," the US leader warned on his Truth Social media platform. In June, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who also serves as Russia’s BRICS Sherpa, told the TASS Analytical Center in an interview that the developments at BRICS...

On July 3, Putin and Trump held a phone conversationWASHINGTON, July 5. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump acknowledged that Russia has been able to cope with the sanctions imposed on it and called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a professional. "We talk about sanctions a lot," the US leader told reporters, recalling his July 3 telephone conversation with Putin. "He has been able to manage sanctions," Trump said, referring to his Russian counterpart. "But these are pretty binding sanctions," he added, referring to the possibility of new anti-Russian restrictions in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. "Now we talk about...

WHAT HAPPENED: Mexico’s government is defending three financial institutions accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of laundering cartel money and facilitating payments for fentanyl precursors to China. 👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Mexico’s Secretariat of Treasury and Public Credit (SHCP), the U.S. Department of the Treasury, CIBanco SA, Intercam SA, and Vector Casa De Bolsa. 📍WHEN & WHERE: Mexico’s SHCP issued a statement this week. 💬KEY QUOTE: “Financial facilitators like CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector are enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain.” — Secretary of the Treasury...

Russia - Masque Of The Red Death Vladimir Putin has been hailed perhaps as the pivotal post cold war Russian leader. He has executed a skillful dog and pony show, convincing both the Bush and Blair administrations that the former Soviet Union was not only no longer a military threat to the West but was indeed now becoming a close ally. Obviously Russia's cooperation with the French and German UN delegation's intransigence in dealing with Iraq has done much to throw cold water on this heretofore-budding union. It's important to note that such a relationship offered hope, though ultimately unfounded,...

The State Department on Thursday announced sanctions on four judges on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands, over their roles in investigating the United States and Israel. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that two of the justices approved the court's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The other two authorized the ICC’s investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. The sanctions target judges Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia. "As ICC...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday blasted the decision by the Trump administration to sanction four of its judges. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions in a statement, saying they target Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia. Two of the sanctioned judges authorized the arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant which the court issued last November. The others authorized an ICC investigation into abuses by US personnel in Afghanistan. The ICC said...

Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Monday the Senate could begin work this month on a bill imposing stiff sanctions on Russia – and secondary sanctions on countries that trade with Russia – over its war in Ukraine. Thune said President Donald Trump's administration still hopes for an agreement to end the three-year-old conflict, but the Senate is prepared to help put pressure on Moscow. "We also stand ready to provide President Trump with any tools he needs to get Russia to finally come to the table in a real way," Thune said in a speech opening the day's business...

When a head of state – such as the President of the United States, for example – wants to encourage certain behaviors in a foreign government, the toolbox is limited. There’s diplomacy, of course, but without something backing it up, diplomacy doesn’t mean much. So what are the tools that the diplomats have at their disposal? There’s war, of course, which can mean the threat of war, or the promise of defense, or an alliance in case of mutual concerns about a common enemy. There’s world opinion, and invitations to the right cocktail parties. And there’s trade – either a...

The British maritime security firm warns that "should a future Russia-Ukraine peace agreement fail to address EU-UK sanctions on Russian hydrocarbon exports, Russia is likely to reallocate its security resources, previously concentrated on the Black Sea, to the Baltic region"LONDON, May 20. /TASS/. Attempts by European nations to detain allegedly Russia-linked merchant ships in the Baltic Sea are heightening the risk of "non-linear warfare" between NATO and Russia, according to a report by the British maritime security firm Ambrey. The assessment indicates that, in the near term, there will be "heightened maritime security risks, particularly around vessels transporting oil from...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday evening issued a statement responding to the UK, Canada and France’s ultimatum to Israel to end the war in Gaza or face sanctions. “By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” he said. “The war began on October 7 when Palestinian terrorists stormed our borders, murdered 1,200 innocent people and abducted...

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.), who has accused Republicans of enabling Russia, took maximum campaign donations from a top lobbyist for Nord Stream 2 AG, the company behind an oil transportation project dubbed "Putin’s pipeline." Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, received $2,900 last year from Vincent Roberti Sr., the chairman of lobbying powerhouse Roberti Global. Roberti gave $5,400 to Swalwell’s campaign in 2018. Roberti Global received $2.4 million in 2021 from Nord Stream 2 AG, a Switzerland-based subsidiary of Russian oil giant Gazprom. Critics of the 761-mile pipeline have long said it would allow Vladimir Putin to...

TALLINN/ANTALYA, Turkey, May 15 (Reuters) - Estonia said on Thursday that Moscow had briefly sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea during an attempt to stop a Russian-bound oil tanker thought to be part of a "shadow fleet" defying Western sanctions on Moscow. Russia, which regards sanctions as a malign attempt to crush its economy, says all its ships have free passage in the Baltic and any attempt to stop them is dangerous. Estonia's navy said the unflagged Jaguar ship, which went onto a UK sanctions list last week, refused to cooperate when asked to stop...

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the jihadist terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), praised President Donald Trump in an address on Wednesday for taking the “courageous and historic” step of lifting sanctions on his country. Sharaa delivered a speech to the Syrian people following an in-person meeting with President Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where President Trump concluded the first of three stops in a Middle East tour on Wednesday. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who first met Sharaa shortly after HTS toppled the half-century-old Assad family regime in Damascus, arranged and presided over the meeting. The...

Donald Trump has said his administration is now exploring the possibility of normalising relations with Syria - his comments coming shortly after he met Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose forces ended the decades-long dictatorship of the Assad family. The extraordinary encounter, unthinkable just months ago, was short but significant. "I think he has got the potential," Trump remarked after his meeting in Riyadh, 37 minutes long, with the former Syrian fighter formerly linked to Al-Qaeda. The $10m US bounty on his head was only lifted in December. Video footage of their conversation in a lavish Saudi royal palace showed...