Energy

Hungary returned two seized armored bank vehicles to Ukraine on Thursday but continued to hold cash and gold worth about $82 million as part of an alleged money-laundering investigation.

A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday granted a 90-day pause in the criminal case against Turkey’s state-run Halkbank, a first step toward a possible dismissal of charges that the bank helped launder billions of dollars in Iranian oil and gas proceeds.

Senate Democrats are pressing for a congressional hearing on the Trump administration’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian oil, arguing that the step could benefit Moscow even as the Kremlin is providing support for Iranian forces.

Hungary has shifted from opposing a new EU sanctions package targeting Russia to calling on its fellow EU member-states to lift all restrictions on Moscow’s fossil-fuel industry.

An investigative news outlet on Thursday launched a searchable online database containing nearly 3,200 financial disclosure records for more than 1,500 Trump-appointed federal officials, detailing extensive financial ties between senior members of the administration and the industries they regulate.

The United Arab Emirates is considering freezing billions of dollars in Iranian assets held in the Gulf state, a move that could sharply restrict Tehran’s access to foreign currency and global trade networks.

The United States is temporarily easing sanctions on Russian oil sales to India with a 30-day waiver aimed at preventing supply shortages and cushioning a sharp rise in crude prices after U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.

Kyiv’s assets-declaration watchdog missed multiple red flags in the filings of former Ukrainian energy minister Herman Halushchenko, according to Transparency International Ukraine. 

Washington is increasingly turning U.S. anti-corruption enforcement into an instrument of economic statecraft—a shift that threatens to undercut decades of American efforts to fight illicit activity abroad.

Western governments marked the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine with new measures targeting the Kremlin’s revenue streams and enabling networks, despite stalled efforts by the EU to approve a broad sanctions package.