US Department of the Treasury
The United States Department of the Treasury is the federal executive branch agency responsible for the country's fiscal policy, taxation, and the management of public debt. It is headed by the Secretary of the Treasury, a member of the President's Cabinet who serves as the principal economic adviser to the President. The department oversees the production of currency and coinage through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, administers the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and represents the United States in international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. Treasury also has the authority to impose and lift economic sanctions against foreign states, individuals, and entities.
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Zelensky meets Trump's Russia envoy Witkoff in Oslo; security-guarantee document to be handed to Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met in Oslo on 20 October with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb to discuss a peace proposal for ending Russia's war against Ukraine. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, ill with the flu, joined remotely. The talks covered security-guarantee options for Ukraine — including NATO membership, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and an "Article 5 light" model — laid out in a document that Witkoff is set to hand to Vladimir Putin on a trip to Russia on 21 October.
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Zelensky says US has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine after a three-day pause
In an interview broadcast on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, October 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine after it was blocked for "a certain period of time." According to Zelensky's office, the pause lasted three days and coincided with Russian ballistic missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on October 12 and the night of October 14. Zelensky also said he hopes negotiations with Washington can take place during the same week, and warned that US alignment with Russia would be "a historic mistake and a great tragedy."
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Trump administration weighs easing sanctions on Russian 'shadow fleet' tankers to cut freight rates
The Trump administration is considering easing US sanctions on vessels of the so-called Russian "shadow fleet" so they can carry non-sanctioned oil and petroleum products, aiming to lower record-high global tanker freight rates and boost Persian Gulf exports. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright raised the issue in a video address to the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh this week. The move comes days after Trump temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian diesel, a step that drew sharp criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European countries, and some Republican senators.
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Trump announces deal for Russia to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel to US market
On 9 October 2026, Donald Trump announced that Russia would immediately supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to American and world markets under a deal with Vladimir Putin reached during a phone call. On the same day, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License 135, authorizing specified transactions involving Russian diesel through 7 April 2027. The deal was justified by Trump as a way to lower diesel prices that had risen because of a war with Iran ahead of the 3 November midterm elections; critics from both parties argued it contradicts a 2022 law banning Russian energy imports and the sanctions Trump himself signed in September.
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Trump announces Russia diesel deal after Putin call; Ukraine and European leaders condemn move
On 9 October 2026, US President Donald Trump announced he had spoken by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to lift US sanctions on Russian diesel, allowing large-scale exports to American and global markets. The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 135 authorising the imports until 7 April 2027. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sharply criticised the decision, calling it a "weak" and "unfair and dishonest" birthday gift to Putin that gives Russia additional billions for the war, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, the UK, Germany, France, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and US Democrats all condemned or distanced themselves from the deal. Talks between Ukrainian, US and European delegations in Miami ended early after the announcement, and a senior Ukrainian official told the Financial Times that long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries would continue.
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Miami talks on Ukraine end after one day as Trump announces Russian diesel deal with Putin
On 9 October, US, Ukrainian, European and NATO representatives met in Miami to discuss ways to end Russia's war before winter, but the planned two-day meeting ended after a single day. The Ukrainian delegation cut short its visit and headed home after President Trump announced a phone-call deal with Vladimir Putin to supply Russian diesel fuel to US and world markets, prompting sharp criticism from Kyiv.
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US and Russia discussed American investor for Nord Stream, but White House denies talks and Germany pushes back
Reuters reported that US presidential envoy Jared Kushner and Kremlin-linked adviser Kirill Dmitriev have discussed attracting an American investor to restore the Nord Stream gas pipelines, meeting in Moscow and New York in recent weeks. The White House said any Russia deals must go through US development finance and Treasury bodies and that there have been no recent Nord Stream-specific talks. Germany said the pipelines are under European sanctions and that Berlin has no wish to approve their resumption.
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Putin envoy Dmitriev holds "constructive" talks with US officials in Washington on Ukraine war and energy cooperation
Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin's special envoy and head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund RDIF, met US officials in Washington on September 28 to discuss ending the war in Ukraine and possible post-war US-Russia energy initiatives. A US official described the talks as "constructive." The visit followed Donald Trump's meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 22 and a separate series of meetings between Dmitriev and US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.