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EU Agrees 17th Package of Sanctions on Russia

People queue in front of EU Commission and council during the European Institutions Open Day in Brussels, Belgium, 10 May 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
People queue in front of EU Commission and council during the European Institutions Open Day in Brussels, Belgium, 10 May 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
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EU Agrees 17th Package of Sanctions on Russia

People queue in front of EU Commission and council during the European Institutions Open Day in Brussels, Belgium, 10 May 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
People queue in front of EU Commission and council during the European Institutions Open Day in Brussels, Belgium, 10 May 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

The EU on Wednesday approved a fresh package of sanctions on Russia, clamping down on its "shadow" oil fleet, as Europe threatens further punishment if Moscow does not agree to a Ukraine truce.

The new measures against the Kremlin -- the 17th round of sanctions from the EU since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine -- were in the pipeline before European leaders issued their latest ultimatum to Moscow over US-led peace efforts.

Diplomats representing the EU's 27 member states approved the package at a meeting in Brussels, according to the Polish presidency of the bloc.

The package -- set to be formally adopted on Tuesday -- includes blacklisting some 200 oil tankers used to circumvent curbs on Russian oil exports.

Companies in countries including Vietnam, Serbia and Türkiye accused of helping supply goods to the Russian military are also set to face restrictions, AFP reported.

Dozens of Russian officials are to be added to the nearly 2,400 people and entities already facing visa bans and asset freezes.

The package also brings sanctions on Russian individuals over cyberattacks, human rights abuses and sabotage in Europe.

Officials admit that the latest round of sanctions against Moscow are relatively limited compared to previous packages as the EU finds it more difficult to agree targets.

Further to these measures, EU leaders have threatened Russia with "massive sanctions" if it doesn't agree to a 30-day ceasefire proposal backed by the United States.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Russia on Tuesday that it would face additional European sanctions if there was no "real progress" this week towards peace in Ukraine.

Merz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a Ukraine ceasefire and peace with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump has said he could attend talks in Türkiye if Putin and Zelensky sit down, but so far there has been no indication from the Kremlin that Putin will attend.

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World

UK's Starmer Renews Vow to Fight any Leadership Challenge

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the members of the media on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the members of the media on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)
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UK's Starmer Renews Vow to Fight any Leadership Challenge

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the members of the media on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the members of the media on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer renewed his vow Friday to fight any challenge to his Labor party leadership, after his rival carved a path to Downing Street by winning a key by-election, AFP reported.

"If there is a contest then yes I will run, I will stand. I've said repeatedly, I'm not going to walk away from that," he told reporters in London after Andy Burnham was elected an MP in a northwest English constituency.

World

Iran's Chief Negotiator Says US Talks Bound by Tehran's 'Red Lines'

FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
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Iran's Chief Negotiator Says US Talks Bound by Tehran's 'Red Lines'

FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa

Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Friday that talks with the United States would remain bound by Tehran's "red lines".

"As we have shown in the past path of negotiations, we are steadfast in fulfilling the conditions and red lines set, and in achieving the interests of the Iranian nation," Ghalibaf said in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency.

"If the enemy seeks to be excessive, we have proven that our fingers are on the trigger and we have no hesitation in giving a crushing response to the enemy."

Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding this week ending a regional war that erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Ghalibaf's remarks came after Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he had approved the US-Iran deal despite having a "different view" on the matter, without elaborating.

In a message read out on state television, Khamenei said that direct talks with the United States "will not mean accepting the enemy's point of view".

In response to Khamenei's message, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country's foreign policy apparatus "will be used to secure the sublime interests of Iran" and "protect the rights of the noble Iranian nation".

President Masoud Pezeshkian, who signed the deal on behalf of his country, issued a similar statement promising to adhere to Iran's red lines and defend its "dignity, honor and authority".

The US-Iran deal, which US President Donald Trump also signed, lays the groundwork for detailed 60-day negotiations on Iran's nuclear program and sanctions relief.

It remains unclear when talks for a final settlement would start after a first meeting in Switzerland slated for Friday was postponed.

The agreement provides for an end to the Middle East war on all fronts, including Lebanon, the lifting of the two-month US naval blockade on Iranian ports, and Tehran's reopening of the Strait of Hormuz "with no charge for 60 days only".

It also includes an Iranian commitment not to procure or develop nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied pursuing.

Conservatives in Iran appeared deeply skeptical of the deal and US intentions, with some expressing concern that Tehran could be giving up key sources of leverage before securing compensation and sanctions relief.

"The Americans do not honor to any commitments, they have not been loyal to any agreements, and they will not be," said Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the ultraconservative Kayhan newspaper, in an interview with state television on Thursday.

He added: "The Strait of Hormuz is the way to get compensation."

Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for parliament's national security commission, took issue with reports of possible inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities by a UN watchdog.

"I hope the government denies this, but if this claim is true... the parliament will stand up to lawlessness and disobedience," he said in a post on X.

World

Cuba Adopts Historic Package of Free-market Reforms

A vintage car passes by images of late Cuban President Fidel Castro, Cuba's former President Raul Castro and Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel displayed on a billboard in Havana, Cuba, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Norlys Perez
A vintage car passes by images of late Cuban President Fidel Castro, Cuba's former President Raul Castro and Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel displayed on a billboard in Havana, Cuba, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Norlys Perez
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Cuba Adopts Historic Package of Free-market Reforms

A vintage car passes by images of late Cuban President Fidel Castro, Cuba's former President Raul Castro and Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel displayed on a billboard in Havana, Cuba, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Norlys Perez
A vintage car passes by images of late Cuban President Fidel Castro, Cuba's former President Raul Castro and Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel displayed on a billboard in Havana, Cuba, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Norlys Perez

Cuban lawmakers Thursday adopted nearly 200 historic free-market reforms aimed at rescuing the communist island from a severe crisis aggravated by a US oil blockade.

In a landmark speech to the National Assembly, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero unveiled 176 measures aimed at rolling back the state's role in the economy and attracting investment in everything from banking to tourism and agriculture.

Under the reforms, foreign investors are no longer required to form joint ventures with the state, large private enterprises will be authorized and both Cuban and foreign investors will be allowed to acquire stakes in state companies.

These and other huge changes come as the United States exerts relentless pressure on the island, with President Donald Trump musing openly about taking over the Caribbean nation just 90 miles (145 km) from Florida.

Daniel Torralbas, a London-based Cuban economist, described the reforms as "the most profound" since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.

- 'Socialism or death!' -

They were adopted in a unanimous show of hands by lawmakers at a session which ended with President Miguel Diaz-Canel intoning Castro's famous revolutionary slogan: "Socialism or death!"

Marrero did not give a time-frame for implementing the reforms but Diaz-Canel had on Wednesday argued the need for "urgent changes" to stave off economic collapse.

The oil blockade imposed by Trump in January after his ouster of Cuba ally Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela has brought the island's economy to the brink of collapse, forcing the Communist Party into concessions it previously considered heretical.

While Havana's custom has always been to blame its woes on a more-than-six-decade US trade embargo and more recently the oil blockade, Diaz-Canel admitted to the existence of "obstacles that don't come from outside, nor the blockade."

In usually frank language, he called out "slowness, bureaucracy and norms that impede those who want to produce" as well as "decisions that we have put off."

"Their backs are up against the wall as never before," Michael Bustamante, Cuban studies chair at the University of Miami, told AFP.

"They're in the uncomfortable position of making changes to their economic model, seemingly because of the pressure that's being exerted on them by the United States."

A defiant Diaz-Canel insisted that the government was "not doing this because of pressure from the Yankees," but to "preserve" socialism.

- Collapsing revolution -

Just a single oil tanker -- from Russia -- has docked in Cuba since the beginning of the year.

Power cuts sometimes lasting over 30 hours have become the norm, and food, fuel, drinking water and medicine are in short supply.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has warned that "children are dying" in Cuba because of a shortage of medical supplies and medication.

Victor Hierrezuelo, a 63-year-old bank worker, told AFP on Thursday that, absent reforms, "the revolution will collapse!"

It is unclear, however, whether the changes will satisfy Trump, who is pushing for a change in Cuba's leaders as well as its economic model.

Asked Thursday if Cuba was now in Trump's sights after he signed a deal to end the Iran war, Vice President JD Vance said Washington wanted Cubans to be "happy and successful."

"We're actually talking to the Cuban government right now about how they could change their ways to change that," he added.

Many disillusioned locals, weary after weeks of power cuts, which causes food to rot in 40C heat, shrugged off the reforms as too little, too late.

But the country's burgeoning small business sector welcomed the changes.

They "offer hope," said Mario Gonzales, the 32-year-old manager of a restaurant in Havana's historic old town, who is hoping for a tourism revival.