US legislators, who have been at an impasse over more than $60-billion in fresh assistance for Ukraine as its war with Russia approaches its third year, abandoned efforts to reach a deal before leaving Washington for a holiday break. 

Russia sees no current basis for holding negotiations to end its 22-month war in Ukraine, according to President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson.

The US took some of its strongest steps yet to enforce a price cap on Russian oil, targeting for the first time crude traders and a state-backed shipping giant as it seeks to pressure Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Abramovich loses challenge over EU sanctions

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich lost a challenge against the European Union’s decision to freeze his funds and ban him from travelling in the 27-nation bloc because of his alleged links to President Vladimir Putin. 

The EU “did not err in its assessment” by including and maintaining Abramovich on its sanctions list, the bloc’s General Court ruled in Luxembourg on Wednesday. It also rejected a claim for compensation from the businessman, since he had failed to topple the EU’s sanctions decision.

Abramovich is one of the richest people in Russia, amassing with his partners $13-billion from the sale of the Sibneft oil company to state-run Gazprom in 2005. Last year, he was forced to sell London football team Chelsea for £4.25-billion after being sanctioned by the UK — ending nearly two decades as owner. The EU followed with its own sanctions days later. 

EU judges on Wednesday also rejected claims by Abramovich of a “disproportionate infringement” of his freedom to move freely across the EU as a Portuguese national.

US Congress gives up on $60bn Ukraine aid deal until next year

Ukraine heads into the new year with dwindling weapons stockpiles and no guarantee of more US aid. 

US legislators, who have been at an impasse over more than $60-billion in fresh assistance for Ukraine as its war with Russia approaches its third year, abandoned efforts to reach a deal before leaving Washington for a holiday break. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer acknowledged on Tuesday that a last-minute push to reach an agreement with Republicans required more time. GOP lawmakers are demanding more restrictive US border and immigration policies in exchange for the war aid.

“This is just a difficult issue,” Schumer told reporters at the Capitol. “Our goal is to get something done as soon as we get back.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin is already gloating. He seized on the funding delays, saying his forces “have the initiative” on the battlefield. Ukraine, he said in a speech earlier in the day, “is suffering heavy losses and has largely squandered its reserves.”

In a joint statement on Tuesday night, Schumer and Republican leader Mitch McConnell said, “Challenging issues remain, but we are committed to addressing needs at the southern border and to helping allies and partners confront serious threats in Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific. 

“The Senate will not let these national security challenges go unanswered.”  

A bipartisan group of senator negotiators had been holding out a slim hope of reaching a year-end deal. They plan to continue talks into the new year, though Congress won’t return to work until the second week of January. Political attention will quickly shift to a 19 January deadline to avert a partial US government shutdown and the 2024 election.

Republicans have insisted on a “transformative” change in border and immigration policies to bring down a surge of migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border that is burdening the resources of cities as far north as Chicago and New York.  

US sanctions traders of Russian oil as it tightens price cap

The US took some of its strongest steps yet to enforce a price cap on Russian oil, targeting for the first time crude traders and a state-backed shipping giant as it seeks to pressure Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. 

The US Treasury Department announced the steps on Wednesday, including sanctions on Bellatrix Energy, a Hong Kong-based firm among the shadowy traders that emerged to help Russia keep its oil exports flowing. Essentially unheard of before the war, it has handled about 20% of shipments during the first nine months of this year from the country’s third-largest exporter, Surgutneftegas.

Read More: Russia punches an $11bn hole in oil sanctions regime 

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Wednesday that the sanctions showed that anyone trading or transporting Russian oil by sea should comply with the cap or “face the consequences”. 

Kremlin says it sees no grounds for peace talks now

Russia sees no current basis for holding negotiations to end its 22-month war in Ukraine, according to President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson.

“For us the idea of negotiations is not relevant,” Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to Russian news services. “We have repeated many times that there are no grounds for these talks.”

Putin, who ordered the unprovoked February 2022 invasion, insists he’s not backing down on his war aims of securing the “demilitarisation” of Ukraine and its neutral status to prevent it from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

“There’ll be peace when we achieve our goals,” he said at his marathon news conference last week. The sides can “either come to an agreement or resolve it by force. This is what we will strive for.”

Xi lauds trade boom with Russia, vows to ‘amplify’ cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to “amplify” ties with Moscow during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, as the two sides continued to deepen relations.

The Chinese leader said the “robust resilience” of their cooperation was demonstrated by bilateral trade hitting its annual goal of $200-billion last month, according to the state-run China Central Television.

“Maintaining and developing China-Russian relations well is a strategic choice made by both sides on the basis of the fundamental interests of the two peoples,” Xi said during the Wednesday meeting in Beijing.  

China’s continued embrace of Russia after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has been a point of contention with the US and European nations. Western governments have pressured Xi to resist supporting Moscow’s war effort.

That campaign has done little to deter diplomatic exchanges. Mishustin was this week making his second visit to China in 2023, while Xi has sat down with Putin both in Moscow and Beijing this year.

Trade between the two nations has soared since the West imposed sanctions on Russia over its war. Chinese car exporters, for example, are taking advantage of foreign firms leaving the market to sell vehicles, while China is buying more energy and commodities from its northern neighbour. 

Russia ramps up fuel exports, undermining part of Opec+ pledge

Russia’s oil product exports have surged this month, buoyed by higher diesel and naphtha outflows as local refiners scale up operations.

Shipments from Russia averaged 2.4 million barrels a day in the four weeks to 17 December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from analytics firm Vortexa Ltd. That’s the highest volume since mid-September. 

More volatile weekly flows showed exports jumping to more than three million barrels a day, the most since late March.

The oil market is closely watching Russian exports to gauge production volumes since Moscow stopped releasing official output data. At the latest meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, the nation pledged to deepen export cuts for crude and oil products during the first quarter of next year. DM