WASHINGTON: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the cost of Western sanctions on Russia is mounting daily, making it more difficult for Moscow to replenish its weaponry to advance its ongoing war with Ukraine.

With trade controls imposed by the United States and its allies, Blinken said Russia cannot import the parts it needs to build more weapons to replace the ones that have been destroyed on the battlefields in Ukraine or sometimes abandoned as Moscow’s forces have retreated in the face of Ukrainian advances.

The top U.S. diplomat told CNN’s “State of the Union” show, “The costs are accumulating every day. The burden on Russia gets heavier every day.”

He said Western allies “are constantly looking” at various ways to tighten the sanctions even further to undermine the Russian economy and its war effort.

Blinken accused Russia of “trying to weaponize winter” with its barrage of airstrikes in recent weeks targeting Ukrainian power and water supplies to undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people. “This is indeed barbaric.”

The British Defense Ministry says a recent poll shows Russian public support for the war is dropping.

In its intelligence update, the ministry said an independent Russian media outlet has claimed that access to data collected by Russia’s Federal Protective Service indicates 55% of Russians favor peace talks with Ukraine, while only 25% say they support continuing the war.

In April, some 80% of Russians were reported as supporting the invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Russian energy chief, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, said Sunday that Moscow will not sell oil that is subject to a Western price cap even if it has to cut production.

Novak called the $60-a-barrel price cap imposed Friday by the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries and Australia a gross interference in world energy trade, an action that could lead to a supply shortage.

(VOA)