The State Department this week approved eight possible military sales to Taiwan, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. The sales are valued at more than $10 billion combined and include tactical mission network software, equipment and services; certain helicopter parts; M109A7 self-propelled Howitzers; rocket systems; missile systems; a Javelin missile system; harpoon missile repair and support; and "ALTIUS-700M and ALTIUS-600 Systems." The principal contractors haven't yet been chosen.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., tried and failed Dec. 18 to have the Senate vote on a bill that could lead to additional sanctions on China for providing dual-use items to Russia’s war against Ukraine (see 2508020001).

House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., led 13 other House Democrats in introducing a bill Dec. 18 that would block the sale of advanced AI chips to China and other U.S. arms embargoed countries.

Exodus Movement, the U.S. cryptocurrency trading software company that agreed to pay more than $3 million to the Office of Foreign Assets Control this week to resolve allegations that it violated U.S. sanctions on Iran (see 2512160053), said it "acknowledges and regrets its prior compliance shortcomings during an early period in the firm’s lifetime." A spokesperson said in an email that the firm has "since taken stringent countermeasures and invested millions of dollars to ensure these lapses never happen again. Exodus has fully collaborated with OFAC throughout the investigation and are glad to put this matter firmly behind us."

The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated two Russia-related general licenses involving certain transactions involving Lukoil International GmbH, the international business of Russian energy firm Lukoil. One FAQ covers General License 131A (see 2512100017), which authorizes certain activities related to the negotiation of contracts for the sale of Lukoil International, and the other FAQ covers GL 131A along with GL 128B (see 2512040018), which authorizes certain transactions involving Lukoil retail service stations located outside Russia.

The Council of the European Union on Dec. 18 imposed sanctions on 41 shadow fleet vessels helping Russia move energy or items in support of the Russian military. The vessels are now subject to a "port access ban and ban on provision of a broad range of services related to maritime transport." The EU's sanctions on the shadow fleet now extend to almost 600 vessels. The bloc earlier in the week sanctioned people and four entities responsible for supporting Russia’s shadow fleet (see 2512150038).

The U.S. this week sanctioned two International Criminal Court judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, after accusing them of aiding the court's "politicized actions" against Israel. The State Department said the judges are helping the ICC "investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent." They also voted in favor of the ICC’s ruling against Israel’s appeal on Dec. 15. The ICC is investigating the Israeli government for committing alleged war crimes against civilians in Gaza.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned 29 ships and their management companies, which it said are operating as part of Iran's shadow fleet and helping the country transport petroleum and petroleum products through "deceptive shipping practices." They have helped Iran move hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian petroleum, OFAC said.

Recently introduced bills that could codify aspects of the Bureau of Industry and Security's suspended 50% rule show that lawmakers may be moving toward giving BIS more Entity List authority, said Ashley Roberts, a trade and national security lawyer with Hogan Lovells.

Open-source intelligence software firm WireScreen this week launched a dataset that tracks electronics trade between China and Russia, it said. The data "captures multiyear electronics trade activity," including details on supplier-customer relationships, product origins and shipment values, the firm said, including the "continued movement of Western-branded electronics through Chinese transshipment points to Russian buyers." WireScreen said the data allows users to identify high-risk parties actively shipping to sanctioned jurisdictions and monitor transshipment patterns.