Trump Imposes Sweeping Sanctions on Russia’s Oil Giants to Pressure Putin on Ukraine War

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced sweeping sanctions targeting Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in a bid to pressure President Vladimir Putin to end his three-and-a-half-year war on Ukraine.

The sanctions, which freeze all assets of the two firms in the United States and prohibit American companies from conducting business with them, represent Washington’s most severe action yet against Moscow’s energy sector.

The decision follows months of frustration in Washington over stalled peace efforts and what Trump described as unproductive talks with Putin.

“Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that he hoped the “tremendous sanctions” would be short-lived if progress toward peace was made. “We hope that the war will be settled.”

Trump Imposes Sweeping Sanctions on Russia’s Oil Giants to Pressure Putin on Ukraine War!

The move marks Washington’s toughest action yet against Moscow’s energy sector as the EU unveils parallel measures.

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The US Treasury Department said the measures were aimed at choking off “the Kremlin’s war machine.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the sanctions as “one of the largest ever” imposed on Russia, citing Putin’s refusal to negotiate “in an honest and forthright manner.”

Trump, who had delayed sanctions for months while pursuing direct diplomacy, announced the move during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington.

Rutte emphasized the importance of continued US and European cooperation to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses, saying European allies were purchasing American systems to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian missile and drone attacks.

The European Union also introduced its 19th sanctions package against Moscow, targeting oil and gas revenues and expanding restrictions on Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of tankers.

The bloc advanced its planned ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports to early 2027 and blacklisted more than 100 vessels used to circumvent energy restrictions.

EU diplomats said the move was designed to reinforce transatlantic unity and maintain pressure on the Kremlin amid reports that Russia had intensified its offensive operations in eastern Ukraine.

The package is expected to be formally adopted Thursday, ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s participation in an EU summit in Brussels.

The sanctions announcement came just hours after a new wave of Russian air strikes across Ukraine killed at least seven people, including two children, and struck civilian sites such as a kindergarten in Kharkiv.

AFP and AP journalists reported drone and missile attacks overnight across at least ten regions, including Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipropetrovsk. In the capital, explosions and fires left dozens injured, while in Kharkiv, one person was killed when drones hit a kindergarten during school hours.

“My hands are still shaking,” said Kyiv resident Mariana Gorchenko after the attack shattered windows in her apartment.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, welcomed the new measures, saying they “fully align with Ukraine’s consistent position that peace can only be achieved through strength and by exerting maximum pressure on the aggressor.”

Zelenskyy also urged the United States, the European Union, and the G7 to maintain coordinated sanctions and continue supplying long-range missiles to deter further Russian strikes.

During a visit to Stockholm on Wednesday, he signed a letter of intent with Sweden to purchase up to 150 Gripen fighter jets.

Despite repeated calls for diplomacy, Trump’s peace push has failed to gain traction. A planned summit with Putin in Budapest was canceled earlier this week after the US president said he did not want a “wasted meeting.”

Moscow, however, indicated that it remained open to talks, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that “no one wants to waste time, neither President Trump nor President Putin.”

The war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022, has become a grinding conflict with heavy losses on both sides.

Western intelligence assessments suggest that Russia’s battlefield advances have stalled, while Ukraine continues to strike deep inside Russian territory, including reported attacks this week on military and industrial facilities in Bryansk, Mordovia, and Dagestan.

As Trump prepares to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea, the White House said discussions on Beijing’s indirect support for Moscow’s war effort will be high on the agenda.

Trump has argued that the war could end if all NATO countries stopped purchasing Russian oil and imposed tariffs on China for its trade with Moscow.