International pressure expected to reduce Russia's oil revenues by US$30 billion, says Zelenskyy

The restrictions on Russian maritime oil exports currently in effect are expected to reduce Russian revenues by at least US$30 billion annually.

Source: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Quote from Zelenskyy: "Additional pressure will certainly increase this amount of Russian losses and therefore reduce the financing of Russia's war. We will also inform our partners about new schemes used by Chinese companies to help Russia circumvent sanctions against the financial sector.

The First Deputy Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Oleh Luhovskyi, delivered a report. He informed me about the behind-the-scenes approaches of partners to communication with the Russian side and about the real attitude towards Ukraine and negotiations at this stage. It is important that all our positions are based on real prospects.

I also instructed the Foreign Intelligence Service to provide partners with new information regarding Russia's attempts to expand its tanker fleet.

Due to our coordinated pressure measures – together with a number of states – against the shadow fleet, at least 20% of its vessels have been halted, and Russia is now trying to compensate for this loss by bringing in new tankers.

All of them must be added to sanctions lists. We will continue to apply sanctions pressure on tanker crews, captains, insurers, and the entire infrastructure of the shadow fleet.

The task of everyone in the world who wants this war to end must be to constrain Russia's ability to adapt to the pressure imposed in response to this war. Effective pressure on the aggressor is the key fertiliser for driving the diplomatic process.

I thank all our partners who understand the situation precisely this way and work as effectively as possible along all sanctions tracks. I thank the team of the Foreign Intelligence Service for their effective work."

Background:

• Earlier, Zelenskyy announced a package of sanctions against Russian tankers, which Ukraine presented in December 2025. Later that month, the country implemented sanctions against nearly 700 additional ships used by Russia to finance the war.
• Ukraine's State Customs Service has developed and deployed specialised software called Sanctions on Sea Vessels, enabling customs authorities to quickly identify sanctioned entities and monitor their entry into the country.
• On 25 November, Zelenskyy signed a decree implementing a decision by the National Security and Defence Council to impose sanctions on 56 sea vessels that illegally entered Ukrainian ports temporarily occupied by Russia between 2022 and 2025 and exported Ukrainian food products.
• The Security Service of Ukraine detained a foreign vessel in the port of Odesa that was illegally transporting Ukrainian agricultural products from temporarily occupied Crimea.
• Four oil tankers operated by Greece were attacked by unknown drones in the Black Sea while en route to load oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on the Russian coast.
• Earlier, the US Command in Europe announced the seizure of the M/V Bella 1 for violating US sanctions. The tanker is registered under the Russian flag, so the seizure is considered likely to increase tensions in US-Russia relations.

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