Ukraine war: USA wants to manage confiscated Russian money

News blog about the war in Ukraine

USA probably wants to manage confiscated Russian money

The USA wants to get hold of Russian assets frozen by the EU. There was an attack on a Starlink facility in Bulgaria. All developments in the news blog.

The USA have suggested that European states share some of the costs following Moscow’s attack on the Ukraine release blocked Russian state assets and place them in one of Washington supervised instrument transferred. This was intended to revive peace talks, the Financial Times newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

European delegates rejected the plan, which was put forward by US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushnerthe son-in-law of the US President Donald Trumphad been submitted. The Reuters news agency was initially unable to independently verify the report.

Fire broke out after an explosion on a merchant ship in Romanian waters near the border with Ukraine. It is still unclear whether a hit by a drone was the cause, Defense Minister Radu Miruta told the Romanian broadcaster “Digi24”. The Romanian air defense did not register any drones on their radar that were moving towards this ship. The ship is now heading to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta, where an investigation to determine the cause of the fire is planned.

As several Romanian media reported, the crew of the unloaded ship “Yara J” flying the flag of the Comoros island made an emergency call about 10 nautical miles southeast of the port city of Sulina at the mouth of the Danube. As Minister Miruta confirmed, the crew managed to put out the fire themselves before the Romanian sea rescuers arrived. None of the 17 sailors – Syrians, Indians and Iranians – were injured.

After criticism from Ukraine, the US entrepreneur Elon Musk pointed out that the Starshield satellite network is owned and controlled by the US government. Any restrictions on speed or usage will be set by the US military and ultimately the US president, Musk explained on X. Starshield is the military part of the satellite network, its civilian arm Starlink is called. Regarding Starlink, Musk said this system is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military purposes.

• Anger in Ukraine: “It’s a shame that we are losing a strong partner”

Ukraine previously had Musk’s company SpaceXwhich includes Starshield and Starlink, is accused of restricting satellite use for Ukraine and thereby to have weakened Ukrainian drone defense and air defense in the fight against Russia. That had fueled concerns that US President Donald Trump could reduce support for Ukraine on the battlefield Kyiv to concessions Russia or to force the USA.