World
EU proposes new sanctions to weaken Russia’s oil and gas revenues
The European Commission has proposed a new round of sanctions against Russia in a fresh attempt to intensify pressure on Moscow’s high-intensity war economy and force concessions at the negotiating table.
“While Ukraine continues to defend itself with extraordinary courage on the battlefield, the Kremlin is doubling down on war crimes, deliberately striking homes and civilian infrastructure,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday afternoon.
“We must be clear-eyed: Russia will only come to the table with genuine intent if it is pressured to do so. This is the only language Russia understands.”
The main element inside the package is a full ban on maritime services aimed at further weakening Russia’s energy revenues, which von der Leyen says should be implemented “in coordination with like-minded partners after a decision” at the G7 level.
The blanket ban, previously advocated by Finland and Sweden, would prohibit EU companies from providing any type of service, such as insurance, shipping or port access, to vessels carrying Russian crude oil.
Until now, the EU has allowed such services to be offered – but only to tankers that comply with the G7 price cap, which has been in place since December 2022.
The cap was recently adjusted to $44.10 per barrel in an attempt to reflect market trends and tighten the screws on Russia’s war economy.
The dynamic price cap is followed by the EU, the UK, Canada, Japan and Australia, while the United States retains the original level of $60 per barrel.
In practice, the ban would mean the cap would effectively cease to apply within EU jurisdiction, as companies would be forbidden from servicing all Russian vessels without exemption, regardless of whether they sell above or below the price limit.
Finland and Sweden had argued that the prohibition would significantly drive up material costs for Russia’s oil sector, be easier to apply and prevent the spread of falsified documents, which Moscow often uses to bypass Western restrictions.
However, it is not yet clear if the other member states would be on board with the idea. Any decision would require the unanimity of the 27 capitals.
Securing the UK’s participation would be essential: the country enjoys a world-leading command of so-called Protection and Indemnity(P&I) insurance at sea.
A similar ban would apply to the maintenance and servicing of Russian tankers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and icebreakers, von der Leyen said. EU countries have already agreed to ban all imports of Russian LNG by the end of this year.
An extra 42 vessels from Moscow’s “shadow fleet”, the dilapidated ships used to evade the G7 price cap, would be blacklisted, bringing the total to 640.
Crackdown on circumvention
Besides energy, the proposed package targets 20 Russian regional banks as well as companies and platforms trading in cryptocurrency, which the Kremlin has employed to bypass sanctions and create alternative payment systems.
The EU would also restrict Russian imports of metals, chemicals and critical minerals worth “about €570 million”, according to von der Leyen, and establish a quota on ammonia, used in fertilisers. Exports of rubber, tractors and cybersecurity services would be equally blocked.
For the first time, von der Leyen added, the EU would trigger the Anti-Circumvention Tool to prohibit sales of computer numerical machines and radios to countries “where there is a high risk that these products are re-exported to Russia”.
The tool has remained untouched since its introduction in 2023, despite ample evidence of circumvention by Russia’s neighbours and political allies, namely China.
Brussels is keen to approve the 20th package of sanctions by the time the full-scale invasion crosses its fourth-year mark on 24 February.
Von der Leyen and António Costa, the president of the European Council, are set to travel to Ukraine on that date to reaffirm the EU’s continued support.
“Our sanctions work, and we will continue to use them until Russia engages in serious negotiations with Ukraine for a just and lasting peace,” she said.
“Ukraine’s security, prosperity, and free future lie at the heart of our Union.”
US weighs extra pressure
Friday’s announcement comes on the heels of two days of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi between Ukrainian, Russian and American officials. The diplomatic effort has raised hopes that the war might end sometime in 2026, even if progress has been very limited.
At the end of the meeting in Abu Dhabi, Ukraine and Russia agreed to swap 314 prisoners of war. Meanwhile, the US and Russia decided to re-establish high-level military dialogue for the first time in more than four years.
The talks were marked by the failure of an energy ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump. Just four days after Trump called the truce, Russia hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with 450 drones and 70 missiles. The constant barrages have plunged Ukrainians into painful blackouts at sub-zero winter temperatures.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that additional punitive measures against Russia were “under consideration” in light of recent developments.
“We will see where the peace talks go,” Bessent said.
Washington spent most of last year avoiding sanctions on Russia, hoping to strike a fast deal to end the war. But in October, the White House decided to target Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, after sensing that President Vladimir Putin’s maximalist demands remained unchanged.
Due to the dominance of the US dollar in global trade, Washington’s sanctions had an extraterritorial effect, forcing Moscow to sell its Urals crude at a larger discount.
This article has been updated with more details.
Shops and schools shut in northern Israel as residents protested a 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon that took effect on April 16, saying “nothing was achieved”. Israeli officials say operations may continue, with forces still deployed inside southern Lebanon.
Published On 19 Apr 2026
World
Pope Leo says remarks about world being ‘ravaged by a handful of tyrants’ were not aimed at Trump: report
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Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that remarks he made this week in which he said the “world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not directed at President Donald Trump, a report said.
The pope, speaking onboard a flight to Angola during his 10-day tour of Africa, said reporting about his comments “has not been accurate in all its aspects” and his speech “was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting,” according to Reuters.
The news outlet cited the pope as saying his comments were not aimed at Trump.
“As it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all,” the pope reportedly said.
’60 MINUTES’ ACCUSED OF USING LEFT-LEANING CARDINALS TO BAIT TRUMP INTO FEUD WITH VATICAN
Pope Leo XIV answers journalists’ questions during his flight from Yaoundé, Cameroon, to Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Luca Zennaro/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance later took to X to thank the pope for clearing the record.
“While the media narrative constantly gins up conflict — and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen — the reality is often much more complicated,” Vance wrote. “Pope Leo preaches the gospel, as he should, and that will inevitably mean he offers his opinions on the moral issues of the day.
“The President — and the entire administration — work to apply those moral principles in a messy world,” he continued. “He will be in our prayers, and I hope that we’ll be in his.”
The vice president’s comments came days after he told Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” that it would be best for the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality.”
“Let the President of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” Vance said Tuesday.
Trump last Sunday accused Pope Leo XIV of being “terrible” on foreign policy after the pontiff criticized the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
“He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
POPE LEO SLAMS THOSE WHO ‘MANIPULATE RELIGION’ FOR MILITARY OR POLITICAL GAIN, TRUMP RESPONDS
Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump (Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images; Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
During a speech in Cameroon on Thursday, the pope said, “We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.
Pope Leo XIV speaks as he meets with the community of Bamenda at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda on the fourth day of an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa April 16, 2026. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
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“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Bulgarians headed to the polls Sunday for the eighth time in five years, with anti-corruption candidate and former president Rumen Radev’s bloc tipped to win.
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The European Union’s poorest member has been through a spate of governments since 2021, when large anti-graft rallies brought an end to the conservative government of long-time leader Boyko Borissov.
Eurostat data shows Bulgaria consistently ranks last in the EU by GDP per capita. In 2025, Bulgaria (along with Greece) was at 68% of the EU average.
Radev, who has advocated for renewing ties with Russia and opposes military aid to Ukraine, was president for nine years in the Balkan nation of 6.5 million people.
He stepped down in January to lead newly formed centre-left grouping Progressive Bulgaria, with opinion polls before Sunday’s vote suggesting the bloc could gain 35% of the vote.
The former air force general has said he wants to rid the country of its “oligarchic governance model”, and backed anti-corruption protests in late 2025 that brought down the latest conservative-backed government.
“I’m voting for change,” Decho Kostadinov, 57, told reporters after casting his ballot at a polling station in the capital, Sofia, adding corrupt politicians “should leave — they should take whatever they’ve stolen and get out of Bulgaria”.
Polls are forecasting a surge in voter participation, with more than 3.3 million Bulgarians expected to cast ballots according to the Bulgarian News Agency.
Voting will close at 1700 GMT, with exit polls expected immediately afterwards. Preliminary results are expected on Monday.
‘Preserve what we have’
Borissov’s pro-European GERB party is likely to come second, according to opinion polls, with around 20%, ahead of the liberal PP-DB.
“I’m voting to preserve what we have. We are a democratic country, we live well,” said Elena, an accountant of about 60, who did not give her full name, after casting her vote in Sofia.
Front-runner Radev has slammed the EU’s green energy policy, which he considers naive “in a world without rules”.
He also opposes any Bulgarian efforts to send arms to help Ukraine fight back Russia’s 2022 invasion, though he has said he would not use his country’s veto to block Brussels’ decisions.
Pushing for renewed ties with Russia, Radev denounced a 10-year defence agreement between Bulgaria and Ukraine signed last month – drawing fresh accusations from opponents of being too soft on Moscow.
The ex-president also stoked outrage online for screening images at his final campaign rally of his meetings with world leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“We need to close ranks,” he told around 10,000 cheering supporters at the rally, presenting his party as a non-corrupt “alternative to the perverse cartel of old-style parties”.
Borissov, who headed the country virtually uninterrupted for close to a decade, has dismissed suggestions that Radev brings something “new”.
At a rally of his party earlier this week, he insisted GERB had “fulfilled the dreams of the 1990s” with such achievements as the country joining the eurozone this year.
‘No one to vote for’
Radev is aiming for an absolute majority in the 240-seat parliament.
A lack of trust in politics has affected voter turnout, which slumped to 39% in the last election in 2024.
But with Radev rallying voters, high turnout is expected this time, according to analyst Boryana Dimitrova from the Alpha Research polling institute.
Miglena Boyadjieva, a taxi driver of about 55, said she always votes, but the “problem is that there is no one to vote for”.
“You vote for one person and get others. The system has to change,” she told reporters.
Political parties have called on Bulgarians to show up for the polls, also to curb the impact of vote buying.
In recent weeks, police have seized more than one million euros in raids against vote buying in stepped-up operations.
They have also detained hundreds of people, including local councillors and mayors.
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