US Imposes Sanctions on Russian Oil Over Putin’s Refusal to Cease War in the Region
Donald Trump has enforced sanctions on Russia’s two largest petroleum firms following the conclusion that the Russian leader had not been truthful and direct in Ukraine talks, America’s Treasury Secretary has said.
These restrictions targeting Rosneft and Lukoil followed just one day after a scheduled meeting between Trump and Putin in the Hungarian capital got postponed, with Washington expressing its disappointment at the absence of advances in ceasefire negotiations with Russia.
“Due to Putin’s unwillingness to stop this needless conflict, [the] treasury is sanctioning the two biggest Russian oil companies that finance Russia’s military operations,” the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Wednesday.
He warned that the Treasury was ready “to take further action if necessary” to back the President’s initiatives to conclude the conflict.
In an interview with Fox Business prior to the formal statement, Bessent said the action was “among the biggest restrictions that we have done against the Russian Federation”.
Trump has held off on fresh restrictions for months, explaining he hoped to persuade the Russian President to reach a peace agreement even amid rising irritation with him. But the president’s patience apparently ran out in the six days after he talked to Putin by telephone last Thursday.
EU nations similarly declared new sanctions on Russia on the same day. These involve a prohibition on bringing in liquefied natural gas from Russia by the year 2027, the sanctioning of oil tankers used by Moscow and travel curbs on Russian diplomats.