KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said he was drawing up a “comprehensive plan” for how Kyiv believes the war with Russia should end.
There are no public talks ongoing between Ukraine and Russia and based on public statements by Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two sides appear as far apart as ever when it comes to the terms of a potential peace settlement.
Zelensky hosted a major international summit in Switzerland earlier this month — to which Russia was not invited — to rally support for Ukraine’s position.
“It is very important for us to show a plan to end the war that will be supported by the majority of the world,” Zelensky said on Friday.
“This is the diplomatic route we are working on,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv alongside Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar.
More than 90 countries sent leaders and senior officials to the two-day summit with Zelensky in Switzerland.
The vast majority of whom agreed to a final communique that stressed the need for Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” to be respected in any settlement.
But some key countries that attended, like India, did not agree and others, like Russia’s ally China, boycotted the summit in protest at Moscow not being invited.
Ukraine has repeatedly said Russia must pull its troops out of its internationally recognized territory, including the peninsula of Crimea that Moscow annexed in 2014, before peace talks can start.
Meanwhile Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is demanding Ukraine effectively capitulate by evacuating even more territory across its east and south.
In Brussels on Thursday, Zelensky said he would put forward a “detailed plan” in a matter of months.
“We don’t have too much time,” he said, pointing to the high casualty rate among soldiers and civilians.
Russia’s troops are slowly advancing on the battlefield, claiming to have seized another small frontline village on Friday.
They currently occupy around a fifth of Ukraine and in 2022 claimed to have annexed four more regions, none of which they fully controlled.
Ukraine relies on Western financial and military aid to push back the invading Russian forces, but its troops are outgunned, outmanned and exhausted after more than two years of fighting.
Zelensky says preparing ‘plan’ to end war with Russia
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Zelensky says preparing ‘plan’ to end war with Russia
- The two sides appear as far apart as ever when it comes to the terms of a potential peace settlement
- “It is very important for us to show a plan to end the war that will be supported by the majority of the world,” Zelensky said
US allows oil majors to broadly operate in Venezuela, new energy investments
- Treasury Department issues general license allowing Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell and Repsol to operate oil and gas operations in Venezuela
- Move is the most significant relaxation of sanctions on Venezuela since US forces captured and removed President Nicolas Maduro
WASHINGTON: The US eased sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector on Friday, issuing two general licenses that allow global energy companies to operate oil and gas projects in the OPEC member and for other companies to negotiate contracts to bring in fresh investments. The move was the most significant relaxation of sanctions on Venezuela since US forces captured and removed President Nicolas Maduro last month.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general license allowing Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell and Repsol to operate oil and gas operations in Venezuela. Those companies still have offices in the country and stakes in projects, and are among the main partners of state-run company PDVSA.
The authorization for the oil majors’ operations requires payments for royalties and Venezuelan taxes to go through the US-controlled Foreign Government Deposit Fund.
The other license allows companies around the world to enter contracts with PDVSA for new investments in Venezuelan oil and gas. The contracts are contingent on separate permits from OFAC.
The authorization does not allow transactions with companies in Russia, Iran, or China or entities owned or controlled by joint ventures with people in those countries.
The licenses “invite American and other aligned companies to play a constructive role in supporting economic recovery and responsible investment, ” the US State Department said in a release. Additional authorizations may be issued “as necessary,” it said.
A spokesperson for Chevron, the only US oil firm currently operating in Venezuela, said the company welcomed the new licenses.
“The new General Licenses, coupled with recent changes in Venezuela’s Hydrocarbons Law, are important steps toward enabling the further development of Venezuela’s resources for its people and for advancing regional energy security,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Eni said it is assessing the opportunities in Venezuela that the authorization opens up.
Oil law reform
The US licenses follow a sweeping reform of Venezuela’s main oil law approved last month, which grants autonomy for foreign oil and gas producers to operate, export and cash sale proceeds under existing joint ventures with PDVSA or through a new production-sharing contract model.
The US has had sanctions on Venezuela since 2019 when President Donald Trump imposed them during his first administration. Trump is now seeking $100 billion in investments by energy companies in Venezuela’s oil and gas sector. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Thursday, during his second day of a trip to Venezuela, that oil sales from the country since Maduro’s capture have hit $1 billion and would hit another $5 billion in months.
Wright said the US will control the proceeds from the sales until Venezuela stands up a “representative government.” Since last month, the Treasury issued several other general licenses to facilitate oil exports, storage, imports and sales from Venezuela. It also authorized the provision of US goods, technology, software or services for the exploration, development or production of oil and gas in Venezuela.
The Venezuelan government expropriated assets of Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips in 2007 under then-President Hugo Chavez. The Trump administration is trying to get those companies to invest in Venezuela as well. At a meeting at the White House with Trump last month, Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said Venezuela was “uninvestable” at the moment.
Wright said on Thursday that Exxon, which no longer has an office in Venezuela, is in talks with the government there and gathering data about the oil sector. Exxon did not immediately comment.
