MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Donald Trump is ready to put pressure on Moscow; the EU is desperate to find money for Ukraine; and the US blockade is likely to affect Venezuelan oil exports. These stories topped Thursday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
Vedomosti: Donald Trump ready to put pressure on Moscow
The US authorities are developing new sanctions against Russia’s energy sector in order to increase pressure if Moscow rejects a peace agreement with Ukraine, Vedomosti reports, citing Western news outlets. Amid reports of possible new sanctions, the media are also speculating about options for Ukraine security guarantees.
For now, US President Donald Trump intends to follow the logic he adopted at the start of talks, using a carrot-and-stick approach towards both parties to the conflict, so new restrictions remain likely, Valdai International Discussion Club expert Andrey Kortunov said. According to the expert, this is exactly why Trump chooses sanctions on the energy sector, expecting them to have the greatest impact on Russia.
As for security guarantees, the issue remains difficult for Trump because he seeks to achieve two goals simultaneously, settling the conflict and making it look like his personal victory. While doing so, he is not only trying his best to avoid sending US troops to Ukraine but is also avoiding accepting the Europeans’ attempt to persuade the United States to back any actions by their armed forces. "However, it’s too early to talk about fundamental changes in the diplomatic process," the analyst noted.
Sanctions are not the only tool Trump can use, said Vadim Kozlov, head of the Internal Policy Department at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies. The US president is considering, among other instruments, increased military assistance to Kiev and expanded information sharing.
"The current negotiating strategy is to make Moscow endorse the plan that Washington has developed together with Kiev and Brussels. If this does not happen, pressure will begin to mount, targeting Kiev and Moscow by turns," the expert elaborated. Still, in his words, Trump continues to postpone potential sanctions in hopes of maintaining a positive trend in dialogue with the Kremlin. The US administration is also prepared to consider the lifting or easing of restrictions, but this could be discussed only if there is a major breakthrough in the negotiation process.
Izvestia: EU desperate to find money for Ukraine
European countries seek to fuel the war and support Vladimir Zelensky, understanding that the Ukraine conflict is nearing its end, a European Parliament member told Izvestia. December 18 is the first day of a two-day EU summit, where leaders are expected to discuss additional financial assistance to Ukraine. The European countries’ goal is to make sure that the Ukraine conflict continues, a Russian diplomat stressed.
Earlier, Politico reported that Belgium, where most of the frozen Russian assets are held, still has not accepted the guarantees the European Commission offered for an asset seizure. The media report that apart from Belgium and Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Bulgaria, Malta and the Czech Republic have also opposed the controversial scheme. Meanwhile, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, and Sweden have reportedly backed the idea.
Ukraine is on the brink of bankruptcy, as reflected by the International Monetary Fund’s assessments. The country will need a total of 137 billion euros in 2026 and 2027.
A final decision on the so-called "reparations" loans will depend on Belgium, European Parliament member Thierry Mariani believes. In his opinion, Belgium is unwilling to be responsible for the risks because the current European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, will step down in three to four years, while Belgium will still be there to bear the burden.
Europe is bent on undermining talks, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador-at-Large tasked with overseeing the Kiev regime’s crimes, told the newspaper. "In this particular case, the Europeans’ position is crystal clear. The only question is about the tools they will choose. Notably, the key European countries claim to be seeking peace, but in fact, their goal is to disrupt any negotiation processes between Russia and Ukraine, including those brokered by the United States. As for attempts to delay the talks or put forward impossible demands and absurd initiatives, it’s nothing but instruments for the implementation of the main strategy pursued by the Europeans," the diplomat pointed out.
Media: What US naval blockade of Venezuela will lead to
On December 17, the United States imposed a full blockade on all sanctioned oil tankers going to and from Venezuela. US President Donald Trump claimed on social media that the move was driven by the Venezuelan authorities’ theft of US assets, terrorism, drug and human trafficking, Vedomosti notes. "For the theft of our assets, <...> the Venezuelan regime has been designated a foreign terrorist organization," Trump warned.
Caracas slammed the US statements as a violation of international law, as well as freedom of trade and navigation. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called for global protests against "piracy by the US government" that would involve oil, gas, and maritime industry workers.
Trump’s decision to designate the Venezuelan leadership as a foreign terrorist organization effectively equates all Venezuelan state institutions with terrorist structures, Viktor Kheifets, editor-in-chief of the Latin America magazine, explained. This means that Washington will view any financial cooperation with Caracas as sponsoring terrorism, the expert added.
According to him, the blockade will deal a serious blow to Venezuela’s oil exports because Caracas will have to either send warships to escort tankers, which will result in higher oil prices, or search for new transshipment points, while facing the risk that vessels will be seized by the Americans.
It’s possible to transport some of the oil by land, but in such a case, supply volumes would by no means be comparable to maritime exports, Alexander Frolov, deputy director general of the National Energy Institute, told Izvestia. The Venezuelan economy will not collapse, but the country, which is already going through an economic crisis, will face a far more difficult situation.
Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, rules out the possibility that China will join the US-Venezuela conflict. In his opinion, Beijing will only employ diplomatic rhetoric to support Caracas. "The move to actually cut Venezuela off from the oil market will raise Russia’s importance for China," the expert emphasized.
Vedomosti: Iran open to talks only if US corrects 'mistakes'
Iran-US nuclear talks can resume if Washington adjusts its approaches, Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at a press conference in Moscow following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Vedomosti reports.
Iran has neither seen any evidence of the US being prepared "to correct mistakes" and "change approaches" toward equal negotiations, nor received any specific proposals from Washington, Araghchi noted.
In October, after sanctions on Iran were reinstated at the initiative of the E3 (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom), Tehran suspended the implementation of an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities. Having refused to cooperate with the IAEA, Tehran is signaling that it’s ready to allow inspectors access to its nuclear sites, except for those that came under attack in the summer of 2025, Vladimir Sazhin, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, explained. Tensions persist between Iran and the US, and the analyst does not expect Tehran to soften its stance in the near term.
Russia can influence the overall public agenda related to the Iranian nuclear issue as a member of the UN Security Council and the IAEA, Ilya Vaskin, a researcher with the Higher School of Economics, points out. Russian mediation between Iran and the US is also possible, even though the Iranians see Qatar and the UAE as more likely candidates for the role. Despite Russia’s active diplomatic support for Iran, the opportunities for Moscow to mediate between Iran and the US are extremely limited at this point because the process requires the parties to be willing to make agreements, said Yury Lyamin, senior researcher at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. According to him, the situation around the Iranian nuclear program is in a diplomatic impasse, largely due to Washington's unwillingness to reach a compromise with Tehran.
Washington has put forward very tough demands, Sazhin explained. The US wants Iran to stop uranium enrichment, reduce the production of long-range ballistic missiles, and abandon support for Shia organizations in the Middle East. In Sazhin’s view, Russia is capable of acting as a mediator between Iran and the United States, but Tehran cannot afford to actually concede. Still, Iran is hinting that it is ready for talks. "Iran is probably betting on holding out until US President Donald Trump leaves office," the expert suggested.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Europe risks being left without gas from both Russia, US
Europe risks being left not only without Russian gas but also without Qatari and US supplies. The United States has urged the European Union to exempt its gas exports from the bloc's methane emissions regulations at least until 2035. Qatar, in turn, has pointed to the risk of disruptions in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe due to excessive environmental requirements, Rossiyskaya Gazeta notes.
Earlier, the EU tried to simplify compliance with methane emission requirements for US LNG supplies, but it did not satisfy Washington. National Energy Security Fund Deputy Director Alexey Grivach points out that the parties are currently engaged in diplomatic talks, with the EU being in an extremely weak negotiating position due to its policy of abandoning Russian gas, and the US is moving quickly to take advantage of that. Notably, Washington has quite a lot of tools to achieve its goals, including tariffs, much favored by Donald Trump. This would provoke market players either to raise LNG prices for Europe or redirect exports to other markets or cut shipments, which will also send LNG prices up.
Sergey Pigarev, senior analyst at Freedom Finance Global, emphasizes that it’s European corporations that are the largest LNG traders, so the EU authorities also risk creating more problems for their own companies.
According to Maxim Malkov, Kept partner and head of services practice targeting oil and gas companies, the US did not enter the European energy market in an aggressive manner only to walk away from it. That said, US LNG supplies to Europe are unlikely to be suspended because it is a premium market for US exporters, given that domestic gas prices are still low.
The expert believes that rising tensions are most likely to result in another round of price volatility. After that, compromises may be reached to delay the introduction of the EU regulations, ease reporting requirements related to methane emissions, or reduce fines for key suppliers.
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