On why the markets are the only check on Trump. (Monday’s show)
28.01.2026 10:06
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On why the markets are the only check on Trump. (Monday’s show)
Always a pleasure to go on the Telegraph’s podcast Ukraine the Latest to discuss sanctions on Russia, particularly the impact of events in Iran and Venezuela. I’m on @ 27 minutes in. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/u...
The new Great Game in Central Asia > The Russian war machine’s scramble to secure an unlikely component for its ammunition – cotton pulp – looks to a new plant in Uzbekistan with ties to an Uzbek tycoon, Rustam Muminov, recently sanctioned by the UK and EU.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Enjoyed talking to Andrew Marr on LBC tonight about the EU meeting on whether to use frozen Russian assets to back a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine. Crunch time
Watts > "I like to call this the merchants of death because in effect, through commercial transactions, American companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars selling chips, selling guidance technology to third parties who are rerouting that technology into Russia."
"They can answer to American juries for this conduct," Mika Watts said. "This case, just like the opioids case, is about what happened in Texas. What corporate decisions Texas corps chose to use to safeguard the distribution of this technology that they know will kill innocent civilians in Ukraine."
"My firm considers this case every bit as worthy and significant as recoveries that we've had for the Madoff investors" said Robert Julian, a partner at Baker & Hostetler. "There is a strong American interest in this litigation and in stopping the chips from being supplied to Russia and Iran."
The cases followed my Bloomberg investigation last year that showed how components from those companies flowed through third parties to Russia's defense industry, with no accountability for their failure to police supply chains. www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
White shoe law firm Baker & Hostetler and leading mass tort lawyer Mika Watts brought the case on behalf of dozens of Ukrainians after a year-long investigation documenting the death and destruction by US technology in Russian weapons, including Kh-101 and Iskander-M missiles, and Shahed drones.
Five major lawsuits filed today against US chip manufacturers Texas Instruments, Intel, AMD and distributor Mouser in Texas for failing to stop their technology from getting into Russian missiles and Iranian drones killing and maiming Ukrainian civilians.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Possibly. It’s a high risk strategy but shows how Ukraine is backed into a corner
I spoke with BBC World Service over the weekend about Ukraine’s attacks on two shadow fleet oil tankers linked to Russia in the Black Sea. Message from Kyiv: trade with Russia means you could lose your ship
Honored to moderate a panel at BAFTA last night after the screening of #Timestamp, a documentary about how Ukrainian schoolchildren are struggling during the war. With Christina Lamb and producers Olha Bregman and Zoya Lytvyn.
Great to be on @CNN.com albeit very early this morning to talk about the latest on Russia and Ukraine.
Bloomberg Scoop: “Here’s what I think would be amazing,” Witkoff then added. “Maybe he says to President Trump: you know, Steve and Yuri discussed a very similar 20-point plan to peace and that could be something that we think might move the needle a little bit”
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
How Jared Kushner helped draft the 28 point Ukraine peace plan
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
A rollercoaster on BBC 5 Live’s call-in show this morning discussing latest talks to bring peace to Ukraine. Had to respond to one caller who said the war in Ukraine was a civil war, not an invasion. Some Brits still in a Russian echo chamber
Putin's war chest is shrinking because of Trump's recent sanctions on Rosneft/Lukoil - not because of the toothless Senate bill threatening tariffs on buyers of Russian oil. Graham's bill has waivers galore, and Trump can already impose tariffs if he wants to
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
On @bbcworldservice Newshour I discuss Trump’s decision to give Hungary’s Viktor Orban a 1 year exemption from his recent Russian oil sanctions and why Hungary’s continued import of Russian oil is such a problem. With @OwenBennettJone clip below:
I went on BBC News Radio 4 today with Jonny Dymond to talk about the EU’s scramble to use frozen Russian central bank assets to back up a 140 billion euro loan to Ukraine, and why it’s taken so long.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Always a pleasure to go on Ukraine: The Latest from @telegraphnews.bsky.social with Dominic Nicholls and Francis Dearnley to talk about where we stand in the ecoomic war against Russia with Trump's latest oil sanctions.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/u...
Great to be on @NPR.org with Ayesha Rascoe to talk about the Trump administration’s new sanctions on Russian oil after Putin’s refusal to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine. Listen here
www.npr.org/2025/10/26/n...
I went on Times Radio this morning to talk about Trump’s decision to impose sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil. It is a significant turning point and the first time Trump has hit Russia directly with sanctions in his second term. This will squeeze Russia’s revenues
Trump finally sanctions Russia’s two largest oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil after Putin refused a ceasefire. This is a major turning point and hopefully will be backed up by threats of secondary sanctions on anyone that does business with them.
Another big turnout for our panel on Trump’s second tumultuous term at the Cheltenham Literature Festival moderated by the always sharp @hugorifkind.bsky.social Rifkind alongside @joshglancy.bsky.social and Katy Balls. We covered the world, from Gaza/Israel to Russia/Ukraine, tariffs and ICE.
We had 800 people sign up to attend our panel discussing Russia’s hybrid attacks on Europe and its devastating war in Ukraine at the Cheltenham Literature Festival with @olivermoody.bsky.social , Andrew Monaghan and Kataryna Wolczuk. Heartening to see such a good turnout @thetimes.com
Honored honored that my book, Punishing Putin: Inside the Global Economic War to Bring Down Russia, has been shortlisted for the 2025 SABEW Best in Business Book Awards for Business Reporting. A privilege to be included among such talented authors and journalists. sabew.org/2025/09/shor...
Looking forward to this panel on Russia’s threat to Europe at the Cheltenham Literary Festival next week with @olivernmoody @AndrewCMonaghan and Kataryna Wolczuk. Tickets here cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/the-spe…
@cheltfestivals
Another epic 2.5 hours on @bbcworldservice this morning talking about the big news stories of the week, including Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Trump, Israel, Egypt and much more. Thanks to the excellent @rebeccakesby1 and @JosephTorigian for such an interesting show. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Fascinating discussion at the inaugural
Hereford Military History Festival at the city’s beautiful cathedral with @Jess-Norman.bsky.social, Sir Robin Niblett and @TerryStiastny.bsky.social The conversation was dominated by Putin’s continued hybrid attacks on Europe.
