More than 20 countries backing Ukraine have pledged to remove Russian oil and gas from global markets, in what UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as an effort to “choke off funding for Russia’s war machine,” as reported by the BBC.

The announcement came after a “Coalition of the Willing” summit in London, attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The pledge builds on a new wave of Western sanctions: the UK and US recently targeted Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, while the EU imposed restrictions on Moscow’s liquefied natural gas exports.

Zelenskyy welcomed the tightening of sanctions, saying that “pressure” was the only way to stop the war, now entering its fourth winter. He warned that Russia “wants to make the winter cold a tool of torment” as it continues near-daily attacks on Ukraine’s energy system.

He said in his evening address that all coalition members agreed to keep tightening pressure “on Russian oil, oil companies, terminals, the tanker fleet, and the aggressor’s infrastructure.” Some decisions, he added, “will help us significantly,” but details would remain undisclosed “to make it harder for Putin.”

Starmer said the allies had agreed on a “clear plan for the rest of the year” to sustain Ukraine’s defense, including efforts to target Russia’s sovereign assets and “unlock billions” for Kyiv, though no details were given.

EU leaders separately endorsed plans to cover Ukraine’s financial needs for the next two years but stopped short of approving the use of frozen Russian assets worth €140 billion. 

The London gathering also discussed support for Ukraine’s energy grid and air defenses. Protecting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure remains an urgent issue as Russia intensifies strikes aimed at plunging cities into darkness during the coming winter.

Western sanctions on Russian oil and gas

The London announcement follows coordinated Western sanctions action on 22-23 October, when the US designated Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, along with more than 30 subsidiaries, freezing their US assets and prohibiting American transactions with them. 

The EU simultaneously approved its 19th sanctions package, banning Russian LNG imports and targeting additional shadow fleet vessels. 

Chinese state oil firms have suspended seaborne Russian oil purchases following the US sanctions, while Indian refiners prepare to slash imports. Together, China and India absorbed 85% of Russia's crude exports after Western sanctions shifted Russian oil trade from Europe to Asia.

The coordinated pressure comes as Rosneft's profits collapsed 68% in the first half of 2025, with free cash flow plunging 75% - the clearest sign yet that sanctions combined with Ukrainian strikes on refineries are systematically dismantling the Kremlin's war funding.

Russia is making another attempt to expand its exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after U.S. sanctions disrupted production at its flagship Arctic LNG 2 plant, Bloomberg reported on June 28.

Arctic LNG 2, owned by the Russian company Novatek, was envisaged as Russia's largest LNG plant and aimed to produce almost 20 million metric tons of LNG per year. The U.S. State Department targeted the Arctic LNG 2 project with sanctions in 2024.

An LNG vessel has reportedly docked at the Arctic LNG 2 facility for the first time since October, according to ship-tracking data and satellite images analyzed by Bloomberg. Data suggests that at least 13 vessels of Russia's "shadow fleet" have been assembled to potentially serve Arctic LNG 2.

These include four ice-class vessels, including the one currently docked at Arctic LNG 2. Three others are idling in the Barents Sea, along with three traditional LNG vessels. Two more vessels are being repaired in China and another two are idled in the Gulf of Finland. One ship is located near a floating storage facility in Russia's Far East.

While pipeline shipments of Russian gas to Europe have declined sharply since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia's shadow fleet — a group of aging oil tankers used to circumvent global sanctions — continues to grow.

Moscow now has more vessels at its disposal than it did last year, according to Malte Humpert, founder of the Arctic Institute think tank.

"If (Russia) can find buyers, this small fleet should be sufficient to lift cargoes," Humpert told Bloomberg.

Finding buyers may present a difficulty, due to wariness about sanctions violations. Former U.S. President Joe Biden sanctioned ships and companies connected with exports from Arctic LNG 2 in 2024, thought it is not yet clear if U.S. President Donald Trump will enforce sanctions as strictly.

Representatives of Arctic LNG 2 have continued to search for buyers in China and India, but have not yet made any sales, traders familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Arctic LNG 2 cut production from its gas fields to almost zero in November 2024, after halting liquefaction the previous month due to Western sanctions. The U.S. sanctioned two vessels and two entities connected to Arctic LNG 2 in September 2024, after previously targeting the project in a sweeping round of sanctions late August.

The August sanctions likely forced Novatek to scale back its operations at the facility. Novatek itself was sanctioned after the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022.

Despite escalating war plans, Putin claims Russia will cut military spending starting in 2026

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on June 27 that Moscow plans to cut its military expenditure beginning next year, in a rebuke of NATO members’ plans to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

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Around 50% of Americans support sanctions against countries that purchase Russian oil and gas, according to the results of a YouGov poll published on June 27.

A bipartisan sanctions bill in the U.S. Senate aims to slap 500% tariffs on imports from countries that continue to purchase Russian energy products. U.S. President Donald Trump has not backed the measure and a vote on the bill has reportedly been postponed.

In a YouGov survey of adult U.S. citizens conducted June 12-16, 24% said they "strongly support" sanctioning Russian energy buyers while 25% said they "somewhat support" secondary sanctions against these countries.

Like the Senate bill, support for secondary sanctions among respondents was bipartisan. Of "strong supporters," 26% indentified as Democrats while 27% were Republicans.

More Republicans than Democrats said they favored the specific 500% tariff penalty proposed by legislators. While 29% of respondents who "strongly supported" the measure were Democrats, 41% were Republicans. Only 32% of survey respondents overall said they supported the 500% tariff.

The 500% tariff has been championed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally and co-author of the sanctions bill alongside Democrat Richard Blumenthal. Along with tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil, the bill would also slap "bone-crushing" new sanctions against Russia, according to Graham.

A majority of Americans support increasing or maintaining U.S. sanctions against Russia, the survey found. Here the division along party lines is stark, with 59% of those in favor of increasing sanctions on Moscow identifying as Democrats and only 37% identifying as Republicans.

The poll also showed that about 50% of Americans oppose cutting military aid to Ukraine. According to YouGov, 26% of U.S. adults are in favor of increasing military aid while 23% believe Washington should maintain its current levels of support.

The results illustrate the contrast between the prevailing views of the American public and the policies of the Trump administration. Trump has repeatedly undercut the Senate sanctions bill, requesting delays to the vote and calling on lawmakers to weaken the proposed measures.

While Trump has at times threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia, he has never followed through on any of those threats and consistently shoots down domestic and international appeals to get tough on Moscow. At the recent G7 Summit in Canada, Trump reportedly insisted that sanctions would be at odds with U.S. business interests.  

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also announced earlier this month that Washington will cut military aid to Ukraine in its upcoming defense budget.

‘Putin cannot stop’ – Estonian foreign minister says war in Ukraine existential for Russian president

As Russia continues to intensify its onslaught on Ukraine more than three years into the full-scale invasion, Kyiv faces a new challenge – keeping its Western allies, namely the new U.S. administration, engaged in the struggle. This became clear during the NATO summit in The Hague on June 24-25, where

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek