US Imposes Sanctions on Russia's Petroleum Due to Putin’s Refusal to End Conflict in Ukraine

The US President has enforced restrictions on Russia’s two largest oil companies after concluding that Vladimir Putin had not been “honest and forthright” in Ukraine talks, the US treasury chief stated.

These restrictions against Rosneft and Lukoil followed just one day after a scheduled meeting between Trump and Putin in the Hungarian capital got postponed, with the US administration expressing its disappointment at the absence of advances in peace talks with Russia.

“Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, [the] treasury is imposing sanctions on the two biggest Russian oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” America’s Treasury chief, the Secretary, announced this week.

He warned that the Treasury was prepared “to take further action if necessary” to back the President’s initiatives to end the war.

Speaking to Fox Business before the official announcement, Bessent remarked the move was “one of the largest sanctions that we have done against the Russian Federation”.

The President had delayed new sanctions for months, explaining he hoped to persuade Putin to make peace even amid rising irritation with him. But the president’s patience seemed to expire in the week since he spoke to Putin by telephone the previous week.

The European Union also announced additional restrictions on Russia on Wednesday. They include a prohibition on bringing in liquefied natural gas from the country by 2027, the blacklisting of oil tankers used by Moscow and travel restrictions on Russia’s diplomatic personnel.