The Latest Breaking News from Vladimir Putin

Sir Keir Starmer said allies had agreed a ‘clear plan for the rest of the year’ on supporting Ukraine

Crude prices spiked more than two percent Thursday after Donald Trump said he would hit two Russian oil companies with hefty sanctions, while talk that the White House was planning curbs on software exports to China added to gloom on markets.

In a sweeping escalation of economic pressure on Russia, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said that it will be imposing full blocking sanctions on its two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, citing Moscow’s “lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine.”

Trump, who has to date not put sanctions on Russia over the war and instead relied on trade measures, says Rosneft and Lukoil will be targeted. Key US politics stories from Wednesday 22 October

Trump says he canceled meeting with Putin because ‘we have good conversations but then they don’t go anywhere’

This is the first time the U.S. has imposed sanctions against Russia over the war with Ukraine since Trump assumed office.

Trump administration hardens stance against the Kremlin day after cancelling a planned summit with Russian leader

Scott Bessent claimed the measures against Rosneft and Lukoil will ‘degrade’ the Kremlin’s military efforts

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the tough new measures against Moscow after the White House scrapped plans for talks with Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky says attacks show Russia is not serious about diplomacy

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday downplayed concerns about tensions between Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, while reiterating his belief that "only" the US president could achieve peace between Moscow and Kyiv.