United States

The US has conflated drug trafficking with Nicolás Maduro...Washington wants to bring down the drug trafficking and put maximum pressure on the regime as two integrated goals...Small boats usually draw less attention and they can move faster among heavily-patrolled sea routes...Sea interdiction is always difficult and forces new routes to open where US ships might not be patrolling. Drug traffickers are excellent sailors, innovative engineers and masters at logistics.”

The Washington trip is “a high-level sign of the trust that the American administration has placed in al-Sharaa — and the hope that he will succeed in holding Syria together during this incredibly complicated transition period.

The big question is what comes next, because the sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil are a noticeable blow to Russia. In some ways, we can already see their impact, as Indian and Chinese refineries are also more cautious about purchasing Russian oil. The essential question is whether Trump really wants to keep up the pressure on Moscow or whether it was just a sudden outburst of anger. And this leads to another dilemma: will there be further sanctions against refineries that continue to buy oil from Lukoil or Rosneft when the grace period expires at the end of November? It is still difficult to say how serious Trump is, but sooner or later it will have to become clear."