Russian president Vladimir Putin has been eager to get those sanctions dropped because oil sales will help the flailing Russian economy. At a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting yesterday, Senator Angus King (I-ME) said: “There is a clear winner in this war. That’s about $400 million a day from the increase in oil prices and the easing of sanctions, which is somewhat puzzling to me…. We have the best drones in the world, actually.”Six American servicemembers are dead after a military refueling plane crashed in Iraq. Perhaps the clearest sign the administration is concerned about the Iran war is that Vance is distancing himself from it.

Source: New York Times March 14, 2026 13:59 UTC