(Bloomberg) --

The European Union formally adopted new sanctions against Russia, including a partial ban on crude imports, and the UK said Vladimir Putin’s forces have gained momentum in their push to capture Ukraine’s Donbas region 100 days since he invaded. 

Russia will open facilities for people wanting to obtain citizenship in areas of the Kherson region, according to the deputy head of the area’s military and civil administration.

OPEC+ kept Russia at the oil cartel’s center even as it agreed to increase oil supplies over the summer.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Key Developments

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  • A Hundred Days of Putin’s War in Ukraine: Balance of Power
  • Serbia Offered Help to Free Itself From Russian Energy Reliance

Russia to Facilitate Citizenship Applications in Kherson Region (8:35 a.m.)

Russia will open facilities for people wanting to obtain Russian citizenship in areas of the Kherson region.

The first will appear in Novaya Kakhovka and the surrounding area, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the region’s military and civil administration, told TASS on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Leader Calls on US Cities to Stop Russia City Cooperation (8:30 a.m.)

US cities should stop cooperation with Russian sister-city counterparts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video message. Zelenskiy cited Portland, Oregon linked with Khabarovsk and San Jose, California paired with Yeketerinburg as examples.  

Oil Sands Crude Prices Nosedive as Russian Bans Upend Market (11 p.m.)

Canadian heavy crude prices have collapsed as the European war upends global market flows and makes oil sands crude less valuable. Western Canadian Select’s discount to benchmark West Texas Intermediate grew $1.70 to $20.80 a barrel in Alberta on Friday, the widest in almost seven months, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 

Soaring energy costs prompted the Biden administration to tap US strategic petroleum reserves, nearly all of which is similar in grade to oil sands crude. As many as 39 million barrels of these sour barrels will be released this summer, just as oil sands sites come out of maintenance. A glut of ultra-light oil is also contributing to the collapse.

US Must Sanction Enablers of Russia’s War: Senators (7:45 p.m.)

A bipartisan group of US senators, including Mark Warner, Marco Rubio, Ron Wyden and John Cornyn wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to ask for sanctions against “lower-tier enablers” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The senators asked Yellen to take into account a list of 6,000 Russian officials and regime enablers compiled by Anti-Corruption Foundation of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

Putin Says Russia Will Allow Ukraine Grain Exports (7:43 p.m.)

Putin said Russia is ready to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain and can guarantee the safety of shipments from ports it controls. In an interview with Russian state television, he urged Ukraine to clear its waters of mines and vowed Russia “will not take advantage of the clearance situation in order to launch any attacks from the sea.”

More broadly, the Russian president sought to deflect Russia’s responsibility for contributing to the global run-up in food and energy costs, blaming foreign governments and saying Europe’s “short-sighted policies” drove up gas prices on the continent.

He also slammed the EU for its sixth package of sanctions, warning it will make worse the situation on the fertilizer market. Russia is able to boost its grain exports in the next season to 50 million tons from 37 million tons, Putin said.

 

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