The Senate delivered a death blow to efforts to impose new border restrictions, blocking a carefully negotiated bipartisan compromise after former president Donald Trump and House Republican leaders denounced the deal.

A UK official said the Group of Seven nations were aiming to curb Russia’s ability to use a vast shadow fleet of tankers to deliver its oil, the latest sign of a ramp-up in Western sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine’s Parliament gave preliminary approval for a controversial bill on mobilisation, designed to help replenish the country’s war-battered armed forces.

Russia launched one of its biggest missile and drone strikes on Ukraine this year, hitting targets in Kyiv and in western regions close to the Polish border as Kremlin forces ramped up attacks.

Senate vote ends border deal prospects

The 49 to 50 Senate vote on Wednesday virtually guarantees Congress won’t pass any broad immigration or border legislation before the November presidential election, and perhaps much longer than that. Under the chamber’s rules, 60 votes are needed to break a blockade against legislation.

It also leaves no clear path for new US military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. 

The emergency aid was included in the border deal blocked on Wednesday. While Senate Democratic leaders plan to try to pass the aid package without the border enforcement agreement, that approach faces daunting prospects in the House, where Republican leaders insist migration policy be addressed first.   

G7 aiming to force Russian oil away from shadow fleet, UK official

A UK official said the Group of Seven nations were aiming to curb Russia’s ability to use a vast shadow fleet of tankers to deliver its oil, the latest sign of a ramp-up in Western sanctions on Moscow.

Russia, with the help of mystery traders and shipping companies, assembled a hundreds-strong fleet of tankers to ship its oil following the establishment of a price cap by the Group of Seven nations and its allies. That enabled Moscow to transport oil without using Western services like ships, insurance and finance — which was the norm until the war in Ukraine.

But now, the nations that signed up to the price cap are working to force those cargoes back to Western service providers, according to Olga Dimitrescu, head of engagement for the oil price cap at the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. 

“What we want to do is force these volumes back into the G7 fleet,” she said in a podcast with NorthStandard, one of the world’s top insurers against risks like oil spills and collisions involving ships. “We’re making it harder for Russia to use its shadow fleet, which in turn would force more volume back into the G7 fleet where service providers are compliant with the cap.”

As part of those efforts, there have been discussions with governments across the globe about the marine and environmental risks posed by the shadow fleet, she said. 

The European Union has also taken steps to restrict sales of old tankers to unknown owners, effectively making it harder to add to the shadow fleet.

Ukrainian Parliament backs new mobilisation rules

Ukraine’s Parliament gave preliminary approval for a controversial bill on mobilisation, designed to help replenish the country’s war-battered armed forces.

The government’s proposal received 243 votes in a first reading, clearing a threshold of 226, legislator Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Telegram on Wednesday. The legislation must be approved in a second and final reading and secure the signature of President Volodymyr Zelensky before it becomes law.  

An initial draft of the legislation reduced Ukraine’s wartime draft age to 25 from 27 and tightened a registration procedure to make men more visible to recruitment offices. The full text of the most recent draft wasn’t immediately available on the parliament’s website.   

Russia launches strikes across Ukraine as campaign intensifies

Russia launched one of its biggest missile and drone strikes on Ukraine this year, hitting targets in Kyiv and in western regions close to the Polish border as Kremlin forces ramped up attacks. 

At least four people were killed and more than 30 were injured in the capital after an 18-story residential building was set ablaze by a strike in the Holosiivskiy district in southern Kyiv, the Interior Ministry said. Farther west, Russian cruise missiles hit an industrial facility in the Lviv region some 70km from the border with Poland, which scrambled fighter jets in response. 

Ukraine’s air force said the barrage consisted of 44 missiles and 20 drones, most of which were shot down. Russia has intensified strikes since the end of last year as Ukraine struggles to secure crucial military and financial aid and grapples with a shortage of artillery and manpower along the 1,500km front line.  

Almost two years since the invasion began, the Ukrainian military is dug in fighting Russian forces after a counteroffensive last year stalled. Kyiv’s military has pulled back in several areas, saying it’s securing more advantageous positions, amid reports that Moscow’s forces are moving in on the embattled city of Avdiivka, near the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in the east. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week he was considering a shakeup in the country’s leadership as he acknowledged the war effort to turn back Russia’s invasion has stagnated. The comments came after speculation over the dismissal of Ukraine’s top general, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.  

The attack on Wednesday was this year’s fifth large-scale missile barrage — and the heaviest strike since 8 January — as the Kremlin’s forces step up strikes against Ukrainian targets, including energy infrastructure as winter grinds on, killing dozens of people and injuring more.  

Attacks in Kyiv damaged two high-voltage power lines, prompting power cuts to almost 20,000 consumers, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. About a dozen private homes were damaged in the Kyiv region. Russian cruise missiles were launched against three western regions far from the front. The strike against the facility in Drohobych in the Lviv region partly destroyed a facility and set ablaze an area of around 300 square metres, Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi said on Telegram. 

Poland’s military observed intensive Russian air activity linked with attacks and enacted “all necessary procedures” to safeguard Polish air space, the country’s operative military command said on X. Polish and allied aircraft were “activated” and are monitoring the situation. 

In the Mykolayiv region, Russian drones damaged a local gas distribution pipeline and residential buildings, killing one person, according to regional Governor Vitali Kim. Two people were injured in Kharkiv by a strike on the city centre early Wednesday, the national police said. 

Sanctioned Russian tycoon Usmanov loses EU court appeal

Russian metals tycoon Alisher Usmanov lost his fight against European sanctions over his links to President Vladimir Putin, the EU’s General Court ruled on Wednesday, dismissing the appeal.

Usmanov told EU judges last year that he had been unfairly singled out by officials for the wealth he amassed and for being a “visible symbol” known to the public.

Usmanov founded USM, a Russia-based investment group that controls Metalloinvest, Russia’s largest iron ore producer. He is Russia’s sixth-richest person with a net worth of $20.7-billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. On top of Russian citizenship, he is also an honourable citizen of Uzbekistan, where he was born.

Switzerland asks China to join meeting on ending war in Ukraine

Switzerland said it asked China to participate in a peace conference on the war in Ukraine, stepping up pressure on Beijing to play a role in ending the fighting nearly two years after the conflict began.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said he made the request in a meeting on Wednesday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Cassis said Wang “noted the invitation” and that he expected an answer in a few days.

“China is having very strong relations with Russia but still is willing to do its part to terminate this war,” Cassis said at a press briefing in Beijing.

China has tried to build a reputation as a global peacemaker in recent years though that campaign has made only halting progress. Its blueprint for a ceasefire in Ukraine hasn’t found much favour in Kyiv, Washington or other Western capitals since it was announced early last year. 

Beijing has provided diplomatic and economic support for Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in February 2022. Last year, China’s imports from Russia surged by the most yet in dollar terms — a jump that came as many Western businesses avoid doing business with Russia and their governments hit Moscow with sanctions for its attack.  

Zelensky said last month his government was working with Switzerland on a peace conference. He said at the time that since China played such a big role in the world “we would really like for China to be involved in our formula, also to be involved in the summit, definitely”. DM