It is increasingly difficult for Putin to finance his war. Every Euro we deny Russia is one it cannot spend on war."

The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies as it called on Moscow to agree to an immediate ceasefire in the war with Ukraine.

Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, is weighing how to respond to U.S. sanctions on top oil firms Rosneft and Lukoil and the prospect of lower sales to its biggest buyer, India.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said the United States is escalating covert operations in Latin America, adding that the U.S. Navy destroyed six alleged drug-running vessels in the Caribbean and the CIA was authorized for secret missions in Venezuela.

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on Russia "as a result of Russia's lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine."

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday dismissed the idea of halting the conflict at the current contact line. Moscow was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov said, implying that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Russia secretly used front companies to buy Western technology and erect a surveillance net in the Arctic where its submarines operate, an investigation shows.

LONDON (AP) — British counterterrorism police arrested three men in London on Thursday on suspicion of spying for Russia.

Russian state news agency Izvestia has reported two explosions at an "enterprise" in the city last night and that 12 people were killed. As yet the cause of the blast is unconfirmed. The footage we've seen indicates the explosions occurred at the munitions plant, which is located near to the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals region.