Norway Urges More Pressure on Russia as U.S. Eases Sanctions

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said on October 19 that Norway would continue working with allies to increase economic pressure on Russia. He tied Ukraine’s survival directly to the security of Norway and Europe.

“Ukraine is fighting a defensive war to survive as a nation and preserve its freedom,” he told the Norwegian newspaper VG.

Eide said Ukraine must have a central role in negotiations over its future. Russia’s aggression threatened European security, giving Norway a direct interest in sustaining support for Kyiv.

His intervention reaffirmed the position he set out on October 10, when he criticized Washington’s decision to reopen trade in Russian diesel. Eide argued that sanctions reduced Moscow’s ability to finance its war and threaten Norway.

Washington opens a route for Russian fuel

On October 9, the U.S. Treasury issued General License 135, authorizing transactions involving Russian diesel, including imports into the United States. The temporary authorization expires on April 7, 2027.

On October 16, Trump also waived new sanctions and tariffs under the Graham Act, a sanctions law he signed in September. The measures included tariffs targeting major buyers of Russian oil and gas.

The order preserves sanctions imposed under earlier executive orders. Its immediate effect is to withhold the additional economic pressure Congress had approved.

Trump defended his approach on October 18 as a way to keep Moscow engaged in peace negotiations. He blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for worsening global diesel prices and accused Ukraine’s leadership of wanting the war to continue.

Kyiv offers refinery restraint in exchange for air defense

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a sharply different account in an interview with Bloomberg. He said recent U.S. actions made it appear that Ukraine was being pushed toward surrender, presenting this as his assessment of their effect.

Zelenskyy proposed suspending attacks on Russian refineries for 30 days if Washington supplied Patriot interceptor missiles during the same period. The proposal links Trump’s demand for restraint against Russian fuel facilities to Ukraine’s need for protection against Russian missile attacks.

The urgency was visible across Ukraine on October 19. Zelenskyy said Russian attacks overnight and that morning damaged energy infrastructure and left at least 550,000 households without electricity. Repair crews worked to restore supplies wherever security conditions allowed.

Later on Monday, Zelenskyy told an American congressional delegation that the Pentagon was delaying missile deliveries already paid for by Ukraine’s partners. He said one package was awaiting authorization from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

He also reported gaps in advance warning of Russian attacks, saying Ukraine had missed alerts normally supplied by its partners three times during the previous week. He suggested a political decision was slowing American support.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio disputed any suspension of intelligence sharing.

Rubio cited an earlier software problem involving the warning system that U.S. European Command had examined. He said he lacked the information needed to explain the latest reported warning failure.

Negotiators may meet in Norway

Norway could now become the setting for the next diplomatic encounter.

American presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner planned to travel to Norway that week for negotiations on ending the war, Reuters reported on October 19, citing three people familiar with the arrangements.

Two sources expected Zelenskyy to attend. The schedule remained tentative and subject to change.