European Council President António Costa has said that the European Union's top priority in peace negotiations on Ukraine is for Russia to cease fire. Otherwise, the EU will increase sanctions pressure.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agreed at their summit in Alaska last week that the U.S. would be able to offer security guarantees to Ukraine, according to Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy,

US President Donald Trump is threatening tariffs on other countries that buy Russian oil, in an attempt to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. But the United States and Europe themselves are still doing billions of dollars in trade with Russia.

Oil prices erased losses on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said sanctions against Russia or secondary tariffs could go up if Friday's meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin does not go well.

EU maintains economic pressure on Russia with upcoming sanctions package while Ukrainian President Zelenskyy seeks Western support for Ukraine at White House meeting.

Putin’s amendments to Sakhalin-1 ownership melt the ice for the return of ExxonMobil — but only if sanctions thaw. Sakhalin-1, once a symbol of global energy cooperation, now dangles as a diplomatic lever in US-Russia talks. Russia shows readiness to see foreign partners back — under stricter terms and a new power dynamic.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said on Friday she hoped U.S. President Donald Trump will move forward with imposing sanctions on Russia as it would help bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

While Republicans praised President Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Senate Democrats largely panned the confab, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle signaled a desire to impose stiff sanctions against Moscow if peace talks faltered.