Ukraine’s allies vow to ‘take Russian oil and gas off the world market’

More than 20 nations backing Ukraine have pledged to “withdraw Russian oil and gas from the world market” as part of efforts to pressure President Vladimir Putin to end the war.

“We are stopping funding to Russia’s war machine,” UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said after hosting a summit of a “coalition of the willing” in London.

The UK and US have recently sanctioned Russia’s two biggest oil companies, while the EU has targeted Moscow’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was also in London, said “pressure” on Russia was the only way to stop the fighting. However, no long-range missile delivery to Ukraine was announced at the summit.

Zelensky has long argued that US-made Tomahawks and European missiles would help increase the cost of war for Moscow by hitting key military targets – including oil refineries and weapons depots – deep inside Russia.

But during talks last week in Washington, US President Donald Trump indicated to Zelensky that he was not ready to supply the Tomahawks.

On Thursday, President Putin warned that “if such weapons are used to attack the territory of the Russian Federation, the response … will be overwhelming”.

Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Speaking at a joint press conference after the London summit, Starmer said Putin was “not serious about peace” and that Ukraine’s allies had therefore agreed to a “clear plan for the rest of the year” to support Ukraine.

Britain’s prime minister said it also included targeting Russia’s sovereign assets to “unlock billions to finance Ukraine’s defense”. He did not provide further details.

On Thursday, EU leaders agreed to support Ukraine’s “financial needs” for the next two years – But it stopped short of agreeing to use frozen Russian assets worth €140bn (£122bn).

Asked about the so-called “repayment loan” to Ukraine funded by Russian assets, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said he hoped a decision would be made by Christmas Eve.

In London, the “coalition of the willing” pledged to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses amid near-daily Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure.

Zelensky warned that Russia “wants to make the winter cold an instrument of torture” and “they want to break us”.

Further support for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was one of the issues discussed at the summit – however, no specific announcements were made.

Ukraine and its Western allies have publicly agreed to President Trump’s proposal to immediately freeze hostilities in favor of a larger front to allow negotiations to begin.

Russia has rejected the idea, repeating demands by Kiev and its allies for what it describes as a de facto surrender by Ukraine.