US closes ports for Russian ships

The US President signs a new executive order banning Russian-flagged or Russian-linked ships from entering US ports.

The document was published in the Federal Register of the United States.

This is not the first such decision: back in April 2022, then-President Joe Biden introduced a similar ban. He stated that the move was intended to “deprive Russia of the benefits of the international economic system that it has enjoyed so much in the past.”

The new document emphasizes that the actions and policies of the Russian government continue to pose a threat to U.S. national security.

Against this backdrop, the Russian economy is under increasing pressure. According to the Russian Ministry of Finance, in February 2025, tax revenues from the oil and gas sector fell to RUB 771.3 billion, down 18% from February 2024. Total budget losses in this area have already reached almost 20%.

The decline in energy revenues, lower demand for Russian oil, and price caps imposed by the West make it much more difficult to finance the war against Ukraine and destabilize the economic situation in Russia itself.