Russia announced a ban on oil exports to Western powers Wednesday even as Kremlin officials seemed to keep the door cracked open to ceasefire talks over Moscow’s nearly year-long military invasion of Ukraine.
While Ukrainian leaders this week have signaled desires for a United Nations-moderate peace summit, analysts say the prospect of direct Ukraine-Russia talks remains out of reach, with neither country showing willingness to make the kinds of concessions that could kick start a negotiation to halt the war.
The Kremlin said Wednesday that Russia’s oil export ban is a direct “response to the unfriendly actions by the United States” and its Western allies, who have targeted Russia with economic sanctions in retaliation for the Ukraine invasion — most recently imposing a price cap on Russian crude oil.