The US President has imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies after concluding that the Russian leader was not being “honest and forthright” in Ukraine talks, the US treasury chief stated.
The sanctions targeting Rosneft and Lukoil came a day after a scheduled meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest got postponed, with the US administration expressing its disappointment at the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations with Moscow.
“Due to Putin’s unwillingness to stop this needless conflict, [the] treasury is imposing sanctions on the two biggest Russian petroleum firms that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” America’s Treasury chief, the Secretary, said on Wednesday.
He cautioned that the Treasury was ready “to take further action should it be needed” to support Trump’s efforts to conclude the conflict.
Speaking to Fox Business before the official announcement, Bessent said the move was “one of the largest sanctions that we have done against the Russian Federation”.
Trump has held off on fresh restrictions for several months, saying he aimed to convince the Russian President to make peace despite growing frustration with him. But Trump’s tolerance apparently ran out in the week since he spoke to Putin over the phone last Thursday.
The European Union similarly declared new sanctions on the Russian government on the same day. These involve a prohibition on bringing in LNG from Russia by the year 2027, the sanctioning of oil tankers used by Moscow and travel curbs on Russia’s diplomatic personnel.
