
Russia Intercepts Hundreds of Drones
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that it had repelled intense Ukrainian attacks, confirming the interception and destruction of a total of 133 drones.
The Ministry of Defense's statement explained that 93 of these drones were destroyed overnight over 10 Russian regions, including 19 drones around Moscow. This followed the downing of 40 more drones on Saturday evening.
On the other side, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said the total combat losses of Russian forces have reached approximately 1,041,990 personnel, with 1,040 killed or wounded in the past 24 hours alone, according to Ukrinform.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Kiev has proposed to hold a new round of peace talks with Moscow next week.
'The dynamics of the negotiations must improve. We need to do everything possible to achieve a ceasefire,'' Zelensky said.
'A meeting at the leadership level is essential to genuinely secure peace. Ukraine is ready for such a meeting,' he added
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"Some U.S. trade partner nations may, just like oil traders, dismiss this as grandstanding," Seigle said. On July 16, two days after issuing the tariff threat, Trump said the oil price of $64 a barrel was a great level, that his administration was trying to get it down a little bit more, and the low level was "one of the reasons that inflation's in check." Since then oil prices have stayed in the mid-$60s range, shrugging off the threat of imminent supply disruptions. Seigle said Trump's existing trade war, particularly his tariffs on steel, could push commodity prices higher for oil drillers in the United States, the world's top crude producer. That could raise prices for oil just as the midterm U.S. Congress elections get underway next year. Trump's Republicans hold razor-thin majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate and the president will likely avoid actions that spike oil prices during the campaigns, the analysts said. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump has proven he follows through on his promises. "He has been extremely tough on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and smartly left all options on the table while leaving existing sanctions in place – and recently threatened Putin with biting tariffs and sanctions if he does not agree to a ceasefire." The Treasury Department, which administers sanctions, said it was ready to act. "As President Trump announced, Russia has 50 days to agree to a deal to end the war, or the U.S. is prepared to implement biting secondary sanctions," a spokesperson said. HESITANCY TO TARGET RUSSIA The Trump administration's lax enforcement of the 25% tariff threat in March on buyers of Venezuelan oil and the failure so far to impose effective energy sanctions on Russia are two other reasons why market participants are skeptical. China, Venezuela's top oil customer, has been adapting to U.S. sanctions on the oil exports since they were imposed in 2019. 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