sanctions
28 briefs
184 Sanctioned Russian Ships Passed Through UK Waters. None Were Boarded.
Keir Starmer announced in March that British forces could now intercept shadow fleet tankers. Seven weeks later, the count is 238 journeys, zero boardings.
Trump Sanctioned China's Oil Supply Chain to Gain Leverage Before the Summit. China Already Priced It In.
Washington's April 24 sanctions targeting Hengli Petrochemical and 40 shipping entities were supposed to be summit leverage. A CounterPunch analysis argues they were actually America's last chip, spent.
The US Just Sanctioned a Nickel Mine in Cuba. China's Battery Supply Chain Is the Real Target.
Rubio's State Department hit the Moa nickel-cobalt joint venture between Canada's Sherritt International and Cuba's military. Sherritt's shares collapsed and the company ended its participation. The strategic target is not Cuba. It is China.
China Told Its Banks: Ignore Washington.
Beijing invoked blocking rules for the first time, ordering Chinese companies not to comply with US sanctions on five oil refiners. It puts every Chinese bank with US dollar exposure in an impossible position.
China Just Ordered Its Companies to Ignore US Sanctions. The Banks Are Next.
Beijing used its blocking law for the first time, telling domestic oil refiners not to comply with Treasury sanctions. The move puts Chinese banks in an impossible position ten days before Trump arrives in Beijing.
China Just Made US Sanctions on Iran Unenforceable. Legally. In Writing.
Beijing issued a formal ban ordering Chinese companies not to comply with US sanctions on five Chinese refineries buying Iranian oil. This is not defiance through inaction. It is defiance by decree.
Pay Iran or Face US Sanctions. Shipping Companies Must Choose.
The US has threatened to sanction any shipping firm that pays Iran's Strait of Hormuz transit tolls, while simultaneously describing its own seizure of Iranian cargo as 'very profitable.' The global maritime economy now has no legal path through the Strait.
China's New Trade Law Lets It Seize Foreign Assets. Trump Visits in Two Weeks.
Beijing quietly amended its Foreign Trade Law to authorize punishment of companies that reduce their business with China, just as US firms are quietly doing exactly that. The timing is not coincidental.
Iran Is Running Its War Economy on Crypto. The US Is Losing the Race to Stop It.
The IRGC controls half of Iran's $7.78 billion crypto ecosystem. The US just froze $344 million. Neither number is the real story.
Zelenskyy Accuses Israel of Buying Grain Stolen by Russia. Israel Says Prove It.
A diplomatic row over Russian-flagged ships unloading in Haifa reveals the limits of Ukraine's moral leverage over countries that also have their own survival calculations.
The Strait Has a Special Lane
A $500 million Russian oligarch superyacht sailed through the Hormuz blockade this weekend. Iran stops everyone else. Russia's ally went through without incident.
Israel Is Buying Russia's War Dividend
Ukraine says Israeli ports are unloading grain Russia stole from occupied Ukrainian territory. Israel says submit evidence through proper channels. Four ships have already been cleared to leave.
China Used the Trade Truce to Build a Better Weapon
While Trump called the October summit a '12 out of 10,' Beijing enacted laws to punish supply chain offshoring, tightened rare earth licensing, and banned foreign AI chips from state data centers. The truce is real. The preparation for what comes after it is also real.
The Oil Clock: Iran Has Until Mid-May Before the Blockade Becomes Irreversible
Iran's onshore storage fills in roughly 20 days. After that, the regime must shut wells it cannot restart. The decisive variable is not the US Navy. It is whether China keeps buying.
The EU Sanctioned China to Hurt Russia. Now China Is Sanctioning the EU's Defense Industry.
Brussels put 27 Chinese firms on its Russia blacklist; Beijing responded by targeting European defense companies and warning the EU will 'bear all consequences' of not reversing course.
The EU's 20th Sanctions Package Still Pays Russia to Run a Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine
Europe has sanctioned Russian oil, banks, oligarchs, and shadow tankers. It has paid Rosatom 1.6 billion euros since 2022. The 20th package did not change this.
Hungary's Veto Ended the Moment Its Oil Came Back On
The EU unlocked a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine this week after months of deadlock. Hungary and Slovakia dropped their objections the same day the Druzhba pipeline was repaired. That is not a coincidence. That is a transaction.
Russia's Oil Unlocks Europe's Money for Ukraine
The Druzhba pipeline resumed flowing Russian crude through Ukraine, which unblocked Hungary's veto on a $105 billion EU loan to Kyiv. The pipeline is the lever that connects everything.
The EU Passed Its Toughest Russia Sanctions. Then Left Out the Main One.
Package 20 adds 46 ships to the blacklist, bans Murmansk port transactions, and promises a full maritime oil transport ban. Just not yet. The G7 has to agree first.
The EU's Toughest Russia Sanctions Required Letting Russian Oil Flow First
Package 20 is the harshest restrictions on Russia in two years. Hungary and Slovakia unlocked it only after Ukraine reopened the Druzhba pipeline. The oil is the price of the loan.
The EU Unlocked $106 Billion for Ukraine. The Price Was Letting Russian Oil Flow Again.
Hungary lifted its veto on the EU's largest-ever Ukraine loan package only after Kyiv agreed to resume pumping Russian crude through the Druzhba pipeline. European solidarity now runs on Russian energy.
Hungary's New Government Drops the Veto. Now the EU Finds Out Whether Orbán Was the Problem or the Excuse.
Peter Magyar's election win on April 12 unblocked two EU sanctions packages and a EUR 90 billion Ukraine loan. But Magyar is already conditioning the loan on a pipeline restart, and Slovakia has not moved.
The US Is Funding Russia's War While Ukraine Bombs Russia's Oil Refineries
Washington extended a waiver allowing Russian oil sales on April 17. Within hours, Ukrainian drones struck five Russian refineries. Kyiv is now running a unilateral sanctions policy against its own ally's policy.
Bessent Said No. Then Said Yes. The Russia Oil Sanctions Reversal Is Not a Mistake. It Is the Policy.
Two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters the Russian oil sanctions waiver would not be renewed, the Treasury renewed it. Ukraine is calling it a betrayal. Russia is calling it cooperation.
The Sanction That Keeps Not Expiring
Three days after Treasury Secretary Bessent said the Russian oil sanctions waiver would not be renewed, Treasury renewed it. The gap between the statement and the action is where US Russia policy actually lives.
The Waiver Is Gone. India Is Next.
Bessent just ended the sanctions relief that let India buy Russian and Iranian oil. He also threatened secondary sanctions on the banks that helped them do it.
Orban Lost His Election. His Israel Policy Did Not.
Hungary's incoming leader Peter Magyar says he will keep the veto on EU sanctions against Israel. Five countries want to punish Israel for Gaza. One country can stop all of them. And the EU is starting to ask whether the unanimity rule should survive this.
The Arms Transfer That Could Detonate the Xi Summit
US intelligence says China is routing air defense systems to Iran. Trump is threatening 50% tariffs. A May summit hangs in the balance. Beijing denies everything.