The Trump administration hardens its stance against the Kremlin. Plus, the final New York City mayoral debate gets heated

Good morning.

The US has imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil companies, as the Trump administration increased pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine.

How did the administration frame the sanctions? “Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” said the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent. “Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine.”

Will it work? Taxes from the energy industry account for around a quarter of Russia’s budget and additional sanctions will further constrict Rosneft and Lukoil’s ability to do business, placing more pressure on Putin. But Thomas Graham, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Bloomberg: “The Kremlin has been very good at circumventing these kinds of sanctions.”

What did the findings show? In one of the most damning findings, the court said that Israel as the occupying power was under a duty not to use starvation as a method of warfare, and pointed out that the Israeli government had blocked all UN aid into Gaza from 2 March to 18 May.

What about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation? The court found that the food agency set up by Israel was not an adequate substitute, and that its existence did not relieve Israel from the charge that it was using starvation as a method of warfare. More than 2,100 Palestinians had been killed near its distribution points, the ICJ found. Conditions continued to worsen and international food experts declared a famine in parts of Gaza in August.