The White House scrambled to get a message to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last year after U.S. intelligence agencies said a Russian military unit was preparing to send explosive packages on cargo planes.

Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden's team delivered a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to Russian intelligence's suspected plans to smuggle incendiary devices onto U.S.-bound cargo planes,

Joe Biden has warned Vladimir Putin about planned Russian sabotage actions on transatlantic routes, reports the "New York Times". According to the newspaper, Russian operatives planned to place self-igniting courier packages on board planes flying to the USA and Canada.

Sweeping U.S. sanctions on Russia's oil industry will make it more expensive for Moscow to sell its oil and complicate sea-borne crude exports due to restrictions on tankers, analysts and traders said on Monday.

The United States announced a sweeping sanctions package targeting Russia’s oil trade on Friday (January 10), with 183 tankers—a sizable part of the so-called shadow fleet that has kept Russian oil flowing to major consumers such as India and China—being placed under sanctions.

India intends to abandon oil tankers that have been sanctioned by the United States because of their role in transporting goods for Russia, which is another example of the impact of Washington's measures on the global oil market.