To pressure the Kremlin to halt fighting in Ukraine, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, from 21 November. That means anyone buying or shipping their oil runs the risk of being cut off from the U.S banking system — a serious concern for any multinational business.

Russian troops have advanced at a glacial pace in recent months, but gains in southern and eastern Ukraine could give Moscow an edge in U.S.-mediated peace talks.

“Russia has to continue the war because this war is too big for Putin to fail.”

By Dan Peleschuk KYIV, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Russian forces are trying to press forward around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's military said on Monday, hoping to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic hub as Moscow seeks to capture the whole of the Donetsk region.

Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev provided intelligence to the Kremlin for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and had been penalized by the U.S. twice, including for meddling in elections.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has accused Ukrainian intelligence of being behind the assassination attempt on a Russian general in Moscow on Friday – and says the alleged perpetrator was arrested in Dubai after fleeing Moscow.

Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of the GRU, Russia’s main foreign military intelligence agency, was targeted at his home in Moscow, officials said.

The attack followed a series of assassinations of senior military officers, which Russia has blamed on Ukraine.