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After waffling between Russia and Ukraine, Trump slaps Kremlin with oil sanctions

After waffling between Russia and Ukraine, Trump slaps Kremlin with oil sanctions

After months of wavering between confrontation and conciliation toward Moscow, President Donald Trump has imposed new sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies and canceled a planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin — signaling a renewed attempt to pressure the Kremlin without committing to deeper U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s war. The measures, announced Wednesday, target Rosneft and Lukoil, key pillars of Russia’s energy sector, and mark the administration’s most significant sanctions package since Trump returned to office. But they also come after years of similar Western actions that have failed to slow Moscow’s military campaign. “We canceled the meeting with President Putin. It just, it didn’t feel right to meet. It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get,” Trump said Wednesday. “So I canceled it, but we’ll do it in the future.” “Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere,” Trump added. Asked why he had chosen to impose sanctions on oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft now, he said, “I just felt it was time, we’ve waited a long time.” WITKOFF SCRAMBLES FOR PEACE DEAL WITH RUSSIA AS SANCTIONS LOOM TARGETING INDIA, CHINA The Treasury Department announced the designations under Executive Order 14024 for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. The sanctions freeze all U.S.-linked assets belonging to Rosneft and Lukoil and prohibit American entities from doing business with them. Dozens of subsidiaries are also affected, effectively extending the restrictions across much of Russia’s global oil and gas network. “Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war.” China’s state oil giants have already begun suspending purchases of seaborne Russian crude following the U.S. sanctions. According to multiple trade sources cited by Reuters, PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Zhenhua Oil have halted short-term deals with Rosneft and Lukoil, citing compliance concerns. The pullback — along with reports that Indian refiners are sharply cutting imports from Moscow — is expected to strain Russia’s oil revenues and tighten global supply, driving up prices for non-sanctioned crude from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. TRUMP AND PUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP TURNS SOUR AS PRESIDENT PUSHES FOR RESOLUTION WITH UKRAINE The sanctions were announced just days after Trump abruptly canceled plans for a trilateral summit in Hungary with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — a meeting that had been billed as a potential breakthrough in efforts to end the conflict. The reversal continues a pattern that has defined Trump’s approach to Russia since returning to office: alternating bursts of engagement and confrontation that make it difficult for allies and adversaries to predict his next move. Last week, Zelenskyy visited Washington hoping to secure a deal for Tomahawk long-range missiles. But Putin preempted the meeting with a two-and-a-half-hour call with Trump the day before — and the missile deal evaporated. “Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said in announcing the sanctions. “A permanent peace depends entirely on Russia’s willingness to negotiate in good faith.” Analysts say the sanctions are aimed at regaining leverage and forcing both Moscow and Kyiv back to the negotiating table after months of stalemate. Trump would often meet with one side or the other and come out more sympathetic to the viewpoint of whoever he’d just met with. An unnamed diplomat told Fox News Digital, “It’s fundamentally making both sides think they can manipulate him. Which doesn’t make either side want to negotiate, because both believe they can still rally Trump to their side.” Now, Trump says he doesn’t want to “waste time.” TRUMP DEMANDS NATO ALLIES HALT RUSSIAN OIL PURCHASES BEFORE NEW US SANCTIONS Andrew D’Anieri, associate director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, said the sanctions are a welcome step but only part of a broader effort required to curb Russia’s war financing. “The Trump administration’s decision to sanction Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil is a welcome move to make it more difficult for Russia to continue its war on Ukraine,” he said. “It’s significant that these designations come just a week after the U.K. sanctioned the same entities; sanctions have a greater effect when Western countries work in concert.” He cautioned, however, that implementation will determine the outcome. “Enforcement of these sanctions will be the key to cutting into Moscow’s oil revenues,” D’Anieri said. “Those who do purchase Russian oil will demand a steep discount for evading U.S. sanctions, which itself will hurt Russian revenues.” “If Trump truly wants to end the war, he should continue to ratchet up the pressure on Moscow, including the threat of secondary sanctions and further military aid to Ukraine,” he added. “This one move alone won’t be enough to get Putin to negotiate in good faith, but it’s a step in the right direction.” Former National Security Council official Jason Israel described the difference between the Biden and Trump approaches as one of philosophy, not objective. “Both want to help Ukraine negotiate from strength and avoid direct NATO involvement,” he said. “But Biden worked through European partners to uphold the rules-based order. Trump has taken a more transactional approach — selling weapons to Ukraine funded by European partners — with the goal of speeding negotiations and shifting more of the cost to allies.” Trump has long emphasized that he wants to end the war and avoid indefinite U.S. involvement. “Let it be cut the way it is,” he said earlier this month, referring to Ukraine’s divided territory. “It’s cut up right now… They can negotiate something later on down the line. But for now, both sides of the conflict should stop at the battle line — go home, stop fighting, stop killing people.” The sanctions, coupled with the canceled

NYC Mayor Adams to endorse Cuomo in race against Mamdani

NYC Mayor Adams to endorse Cuomo in race against Mamdani

New York City Mayor Eric Adams will endorse former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the city’s mayoral race as he faces off against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. “As spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams, I can confirm that the Mayor will endorse former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo for mayor and intends to campaign alongside him,” Adams’ spokesman, Todd Shapiro, said in a statement to Fox News. “The time and locations for their joint appearances are currently being finalized.” Adams declined to answer questions about Cuomo at an unrelated press conference Thursday morning. “On topic,” Adams told reporters at an event centered on the affordability of child care.  “I’ll be with Andrew later today, but right now we’re talking about this,” the mayor added. “And if we mix the two, you won’t cover this because it’s good. So if you don’t have an on topic, I’m going to bounce.” The upcoming endorsement was first reported by The New York Times. Adams ended his re-election campaign last month. Despite past spats on the campaign trail, Adams and Cuomo seem to have put aside their differences as they push to stop Mamdani’s rise. “I think that it is imperative to really wake up the Black and brown communities that have suffered from gentrification on how important this race is,” Adams said in an interview with the Times. “They have watched their rents increase in terms of gentrification, and they have been disregarded in those neighborhoods, and I’m going to go to those neighborhoods and speak one on one with organizers and groups, and I’m going to walk with the governor in those neighborhoods and get them engaged,” he reportedly added. The two former rivals even sat together courtside at the New York Knicks’ season opener on Wednesday. Cuomo, fresh from the debate, said on social media that he made it in time for the second half and posted a photo of himself with Adams. Cuomo, Mamdani and Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa had their last chance to make their pitches to voters on Wednesday night as they sparred on the debate stage. The debate came as Sliwa and Mamdani faced outside pressure. Billionaires have recently called on Sliwa to drop out over concerns that he would split the anti-Mamdani vote with Cuomo, leading the Democratic socialist to victory. Meanwhile, Mamdani faced condemnations from more than 650 rabbis nationwide, including those from the largest New York City synagogues, signed an open letter condemning Mamdani for what they said was anti-Israel rhetoric. Fox News Digital also reached out to Cuomo and Mamdani’s teams for comment.  This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.

Top Trump officials subpoenaed in Abrego Garcia hearing for ‘vindictive’ prosecution

Top Trump officials subpoenaed in Abrego Garcia hearing for ‘vindictive’ prosecution

Lawyers for Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia subpoenaed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to testify over the government’s decision to investigate and pursue a criminal case against him this year while he was detained in El Salvador.  The move portends what is certain to be a high-stakes court clash in Nashville next month, as Abrego Garcia seeks dismissal of his criminal case on the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution. Blanche is one of at least five government officials Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have subpoenaed to appear in the two-day evidentiary hearing, according to a court filing submitted Wednesday.  Others include two of Blanche’s deputies and two officials from the Department of Homeland Security. US JUDGE VOWS TO RULE ‘SOON’ ON ABREGO GARCIA’S FATE AFTER MARATHON HEARING DOJ lawyers said that they plan to ask the judge to quash the subpoenas to prevent the officials from testifying. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled earlier this month that Abrego Garcia’s legal team had established a “realistic likelihood” of vindictiveness in his criminal case, which was initiated by the Justice Department while he was detained in El Salvador. Crenshaw ordered new discovery and a two-day evidentiary hearing, scheduled for the first week in November.  Crenshaw’s ruling named Blanche directly on several occasions, which could present a bigger hurdle for the Trump administration in their efforts to quash the subpoena. The judge cited Blanche’s remarks directly, including from an interview in June, in which the deputy attorney general said that Abrego Garcia was brought back to the U.S. not because of orders from a federal judge in Maryland, but because of the Tennessee arrest warrant. “This could be direct evidence of vindictiveness,” Crenshaw said in his ruling. ABREGO GARCIA REMAINS IN US FOR NOW AS JUDGE TAKES CASE UNDER ADVISEMENT It is notoriously difficult to have a case dismissed on the grounds of selective or vindictive prosecution, and few attempts have even made it even to the discovery phase.  Still, the outcome is anything but clear. Existing precedent requires a defendant to prove both that prosecutors acted with genuine animus in bringing the case, and that prosecutors singled them out because of that animus.  Selective prosecution requires the defense to prove that “similarly situated” persons have not been prosecuted.  Still, the case has been at the center of an eight-month legal maelstrom — one that critics say has given the Trump administration a chance to test its approach to immigration enforcement and to delay or sidestep compliance with federal court orders. Trump officials, for their part, have railed against the “activist” judges whom they argue are blocking their agenda and impinging on the president’s executive branch authorities. ABREGO GARCIA LAWYERS FILE MOTION TO DISMISS CRIMINAL CHARGES FROM TRUMP DOJ A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment on the subpoenas, citing the judge’s earlier order for both parties to limit their public remarks about Abrego Garcia’s case. “We cannot comment due to a gag order in this case,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March in violation of a 2019 court order, and in what Trump administration officials later acknowledged was an “administrative error.” He entered the country illegally more than a decade ago and had been living in Maryland with his wife and child when authorities deported him to a maximum security prison in El Salvador in March. Trump officials have repeatedly alleged that Abrego Garcia is a vicious MS-13 gang member, a notion that Crenshaw dismissed as “fanciful” in ordering Abrego Garcia’s release from criminal custody pending trial.  Others have also objected to the administration’s characterization of the smuggling charges brought against him, noting that in 2024, they carried an average prison sentence of 15 months. 

Inside Trump’s ultimatum that forced Netanyahu to the table: ‘You can’t fight the world’

Inside Trump’s ultimatum that forced Netanyahu to the table: ‘You can’t fight the world’

President Donald Trump issued Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a stern warning Oct. 4, according to a new report.  At that point, representatives from the Trump administration had hashed out an agreement with other mediators from countries including Qatar, Egypt and Turkey — just days before the two-year anniversary of the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. Trump didn’t mince his words during a call with Netanyahu: the deal would be announced and Netanyahu had no other choice but to get on board, Time magazine reported Thursday. COULD TRUMP’S GAZA CEASEFIRE PLAN OFFER A BLUEPRINT FOR PEACE IN UKRAINE? “Bibi, you can’t fight the world,” Trump said he told Netanyahu, as he detailed their conversation in an interview with Time. “You can fight individual battles, but the world’s against you.” Although Netanyahu resisted, Trump’s patience had expired. Trump “launched into a profanity-laced monologue cataloging all he’d done for Israel as President: moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, brokering the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states, even joining Israel’s strikes on Iran in June,” according to Time.  As a result, Trump indicated that he would no longer back Netanyahu if the prime minister didn’t agree to the peace deal, Time reported.  “It was a very blunt and straightforward statement to Bibi…that he has no tolerance for anything other than this,” Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told the outlet.  Netanyahu ultimately agreed to the deal, which includes a provision requiring Israeli forces to pull its troops, and a complete disarmament of Hamas.  The deal also required Hamas to return the hostages that were still in captivity within 72 hours of signing the agreement. Hamas has yet to turn over some of the remains of deceased Israeli hostages. TRUMP WRITES MESSAGE TO ISRAELIS AFTER ALL LIVING HOSTAGES RELEASED BY HAMAS Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.  Israel began to face increased pressure and frustration from the Trump administration after it conducted strikes against Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, in September. Qatar is a U.S. ally, and the attack violated the country’s sovereignty — prompting Trump to say at the time that he was “very unhappy about every aspect” of the situation.  But Trump used the attack as leverage to convince regional leaders to band together and negotiate an end to the conflict.  “This was one of the things that brought us all together,” Trump told Time. “It was so out of joint that it sort of got everybody to do what they have to do. If you took that away, we might not be talking about this subject right now.” Trump has hailed the peace agreement as a victory, and visited with Israeli lawmakers in the Knesset and other officials in Egypt to recognize the finalization of the first phase of the deal.  WORLD LEADERS PRAISE ‘LANDMARK’ ISRAEL-HAMAS PEACE DEAL MEDIATED BY US: ‘NEW HORIZON OF HOPE’ “At long last, we have peace in the Middle East, and it’s a very simple expression, peace in the Middle East,” Trump told reporters in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.  “We’ve heard it for many years, but nobody thought it could ever get there,” Trump said. “And now we’re there.” Now, Trump has indicated that he is setting his sights on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, and signaled his administration will build off the momentum from the Middle East peace agreement to end the conflict in Europe.  Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte Wednesday, to discuss the conflict.

Vance rebukes Israel on ‘very stupid’ vote to annex West Bank

Vance rebukes Israel on ‘very stupid’ vote to annex West Bank

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that a vote by Israeli lawmakers to annex the West Bank was a “very stupid political stunt.” A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, which effectively would annex the territory for Israel, passed a vote Wednesday in Israel’s parliament as Vance was visiting the country, according to Reuters. It was the first of four votes needed for the proposal to become law. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s Likud Party did not back the legislation, which was pushed by lawmakers outside his ruling coalition, the news agency added. “That was weird. I was sort of confused by that,” Vance told reporters on Thursday when asked about the vote. “Now I actually asked somebody about it, and they told me that it was a symbolic vote, some symbolic vote to recognize or a symbolic vote to annex the West Bank. I mean, what I would say to that is when I asked about it, somebody told me it was a political stunt, that it had no practical significance, it was purely symbolic.” “I mean look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it. The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel,” Vance added. “The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.” JD VANCE SAYS PSAKI’S REMARK ABOUT HIS WIFE WAS ‘DISGRACEFUL’ Following Vance’s comments, a top member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party announced Thursday that the Israeli prime minister told him not to advance proposals regarding the annexation of the West Bank, according to Israeli media. “The Knesset vote on annexation was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel. The two bills were sponsored by opposition members of the Knesset,” Netanyahu’s office wrote on X. “The Likud party and the religious parties (the principal coalition members) did not vote for these bills, except for one disgruntled Likud member who was recently fired from the chairmanship of a Knesset committee. Without Likud support, these bills are unlikely to go anywhere,” it added. VANCE HAILS ‘DAYS OF DESTINY’ AS VP SEEKS TO BUILD ON CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT Possible annexation of the West Bank has been floated in Israel in response to a string of countries moving to recognize a Palestinian state, according to The Associated Press. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state. They, and much of the international community, say annexation would all but end any remaining possibility of a two-state solution, the AP reported. More than half a million Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank in some 130 settlements. “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” President Donald Trump said in late September in the Oval Office. “I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.