US sanctions Russian oil companies after failed Putin talks

The United States announced the imposition of new sanctions targeting the two largest oil companies in Russia, in an effort to pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace agreement in Ukraine.

This announcement came one day after US President Donald Trump announced that the scheduled meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Budapest would be postponed indefinitely.

“Every time I talk to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they go nowhere,” Trump said.

While the economic impact on Russia is likely to be minimal, the latest sanctions represent a major foreign policy shift from the Trump White House, which previously said it would not impose sanctions until European countries stop buying Russian oil.

Trump has repeatedly threatened tougher measures against Moscow, but has so far avoided them in hopes of brokering a peace deal in the three-and-a-half-year-old invasion.

His administration has sought to portray the United States as a fairly neutral mediator between the two warring nations, after years of full support for Ukraine from his predecessor, Joe Biden.

But the US president has become increasingly angry with the Kremlin over its failure to move forward with the negotiations.

Sanctions are also something Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has been calling for for months. He said it was a “good signal” from the United States, adding that a ceasefire was possible if other countries put more pressure on Russia.

On Wednesday, Trump criticized Putin for not being serious about making peace and said he hoped sanctions would lead to a breakthrough.

“I felt like it was time. We’ve been waiting a long time,” he said.

He described the sanctions package as “tremendous,” adding that he hoped they could be withdrawn quickly if Russia agreed to stop the war.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said the sanctions were necessary because of Putin’s “refusal to end this senseless war.”

He said the two oil companies affected, Rosneft and Lukoil, financed the Kremlin’s “war machine.”

Oil and gas are Russia’s largest exports. The two Russian oil companies export 3.1 million barrels of oil per day. Rosneft is responsible for nearly half of Russia’s total oil production, which makes up 6% of global production, according to British government estimates.

Moscow’s biggest clients include China, India and Turkey. Trump also urged these countries to stop their purchases of Russian oil in an attempt to put economic pressure on the Kremlin.

In recent months, Ukraine has targeted Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure in an attempt to harm its economy.

Zelensky visited the White House on Friday, seeking to obtain long-range Tomahawk missiles that could reach deep into Russian territory, but he left empty-handed.

The previous day, Trump announced his proposal to meet Putin in Hungary after an unscheduled call from the Russian leader.

But after a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the idea was shelved, with Trump saying he did not want a “wasted meeting.”

Trump later said he refused to give Ukraine the missiles because they were “too complicated” and took a year of intense training to use. Zelensky appears to indicate that Trump may change his mind in the future, as is the case with sanctions.

Fighting on the ground continued through the night, with strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kiev killing at least two people, officials said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russia launched intense bombing that killed at least seven people, including children.

last week, The United Kingdom imposed a similar sanctions package on Rosneft and Lukoilwhere Chancellor Rachel Reeves stated that “there is no place for Russian oil in global markets.”

The Russian Embassy in London said that targeting major energy companies in its country would disrupt global fuel supplies and raise costs around the world. She added: “Pressure only complicates peaceful dialogue and leads to further escalation.”

Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and gas has declined significantly since the start of Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, but Russian gas still accounts for 13% of EU imports – despite the bloc’s pledge to phase it out entirely.

Trump had previously said that he would not impose further sanctions on Moscow unless Europe completely stopped buying Russian energy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised the new sanctions package approved by the European Union on Wednesday, which includes a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports by 2028.

She said this, along with US sanctions, represented “a clear signal from both sides of the Atlantic that we will maintain collective pressure on the aggressor.”

Earlier this year, The UK and US also imposed sanctions on major Russian energy companies Gazprom Neft and Surgut Neftegaz.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in the White House when the sanctions were announced, and praised the move because it “puts more pressure” on Putin.

He is expected to discuss a 12-point plan drawn up by European allies and Kiev that would lead to the freezing of current front lines and the return of deported children as well as a prisoner exchange.

The plan also includes the creation of a war recovery fund in Ukraine, as well as security guarantees and a clear path for Ukraine to join the European Union.

Trump noted that one of the main points of contention is Moscow’s refusal to stop fighting along the current front line, which Zelensky supports.

Russia opposed this idea, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicating that Russia had not changed its position that Ukrainian forces wanted to leave the parts of the eastern Donbas region that Kiev still controlled.

Additional reporting by Preeti Mistry and Daniel Kay

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