US Sanctions Russian Oil Giants; China Says US Trade Talks Set for Friday

On today's podcast: 1) Oil rallied after the Trump administration announced sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil producers, rolling out its first major package of financial punishments on President Vladimir Putin’s economy as part of a fresh bid to end the war in Ukraine. The Treasury Department blacklisted state-run oil giant Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC because of “Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine,” according to a statement on Wednesday. The sanctions mark a U-turn for Trump, who had announced last week he would meet Putin in the coming weeks and said repeatedly he believed Russia wanted to end the war. 2) Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng plans to meet with US officials in Kuala Lumpur from Oct. 24 to 27 for the next round of trade talks, aimed at defusing a standoff between the world’s two largest economies. The meeting will take place in the Malaysian capital to “discuss important issues” in the bilateral trade ties, the Commerce Ministry said in a Thursday statement. He, Beijing’s top trade negotiator, held a call with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week ahead of the planned in-person summit. 3) Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sought to cast State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani as a frontrunner unprepared to actually be mayor of the largest US city in the final debate before New York City’s mayoral election. Mamdani, the 34-year-old Queens state lawmaker and democratic socialist, shocked New York City’s establishment when he won the Democratic primary for mayor in June, besting Cuomo by more than 12 points in a race where nearly every poll predicted Cuomo would win. The debate comes as some Republicans and prominent donors are calling upon GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, to exit the race in order to help improve Cuomo’s odds against Mamdani. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.