US prepares sanctions against Russia's 'shadow fleet' - Bloomberg

The USA is preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia's energy sector in case Moscow rejects the peace agreement discussed by the USA, Ukraine and European countries, Bloomberg reported citing sources.

According to them, Washington is considering measures against vessels of Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" used to transport Russian oil, as well as against traders involved in these operations. The new restrictions could be announced as early as this week, the agency writes.

The plans were discussed at a meeting between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and European ambassadors earlier this week. The final decision on new sanctions rests with U.S. President Donald Trump, Bloomberg sources note.

The U.S. Treasury Department did not respond to the agency's request.

Against the backdrop of these reports, oil prices rose short-term. Brent futures rose by about $0.70 per barrel to $60.33, after which part of the growth was lost. Earlier this week, the cost of Brent crude fell below $60 per barrel for the first time in more than six months. The Financial Times explained the situation by the fact that traders began to put into quotations the possible impact on the oil market of a peaceful settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

The Kremlin said it has not yet seen reports about possible new US sanctions against Russia, Interfax writes. "No, we have not seen these reports yet. The fact that a number of offices in Washington have such plans is well known. Any sanctions are detrimental to the cause of establishing relations, this is obvious," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The discussion of possible additional sanctions against Russia comes amid ongoing talks between the United States, Ukraine and European countries on the parameters of a potential peace agreement. U.S. Special Representative Steve Whitkoff held two days of talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders in Berlin this week. The Wall Street Journal wrote that after Zelensky's statement about Ukraine's readiness to give up its aspirations to join NATO, the parties agreed on so-called "platinum security guarantees" for Kiev. They assume that Washington will provide Ukraine with guarantees similar to those stipulated in Article 5 of the NATO treaty. Among other things, the guarantees will define the U.S. role in case Russia violates the peace agreement and provide Kiev with weapons to deter Russian Xi, the WSJ pointed out.

At the same time, questions about the status of territories in eastern Ukraine, the use of frozen Russian assets and the management of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant remain unresolved, Bloomberg's sources note.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor