Last week, Zelenskyy visited Washington hoping to secure a deal on Tomahawk missiles. But Putin got ahead of the meeting with a two-and-a-half-hour phone call with Trump one day earlier — and the Tomahawk deal was no more. ( Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Treasury Department announced the designations under Executive Order 14024 for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. The sanctions freeze all U.S.-linked assets belonging to Rosneft and Lukoil and prohibit American entities from doing business with them. Dozens of subsidiaries are also affected, effectively extending the restrictions across much of Russia’s global oil and gas network.
"Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war."
China’s state oil giants have already begun suspending purchases of seaborne Russian crude following the U.S. sanctions. According to multiple trade sources cited by Reuters, PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Zhenhua Oil have halted short-term deals with Rosneft and Lukoil, citing compliance concerns.
The pullback — along with reports that Indian refiners are sharply cutting imports from Moscow — is expected to strain Russia’s oil revenues and tighten global supply, driving up prices for non-sanctioned crude from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
TRUMP AND PUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP TURNS SOUR AS PRESIDENT PUSHES FOR RESOLUTION WITH UKRAINE
The sanctions were announced just days after Trump abruptly canceled plans for a trilateral summit in Hungary with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — a meeting that had been billed as a potential breakthrough in efforts to end the conflict. The reversal continues a pattern that has defined Trump’s approach to Russia since returning to office: alternating bursts of engagement and confrontation that make it difficult for allies and adversaries to predict his next move.
War in Ukraine has dragged on for over three and a half years. (Vladyslav Ukolov/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC "UA:PBC"/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
"If Trump truly wants to end the war, he should continue to ratchet up the pressure on Moscow, including the threat of secondary sanctions and further military aid to Ukraine," he added. "This one move alone won’t be enough to get Putin to negotiate in good faith, but it’s a step in the right direction."
Former National Security Council official Jason Israel described the difference between the Biden and Trump approaches as one of philosophy, not objective. "Both want to help Ukraine negotiate from strength and avoid direct NATO involvement," he said. "But Biden worked through European partners to uphold the rules-based order. Trump has taken a more transactional approach — selling weapons to Ukraine funded by European partners — with the goal of speeding negotiations and shifting more of the cost to allies."
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Trump has long emphasized that he wants to end the war and avoid indefinite U.S. involvement. "Let it be cut the way it is," he said earlier this month, referring to Ukraine’s divided territory. "It’s cut up right now… They can negotiate something later on down the line. But for now, both sides of the conflict should stop at the battle line — go home, stop fighting, stop killing people."
The sanctions, coupled with the canceled summit, suggest a new phase in Trump’s balancing act: applying economic pressure while leaving the door open to a future deal. "I don’t want to have a wasted meeting; I don’t want to have a waste of time," Trump told reporters Tuesday.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-shifting-tone-russia-ukraine-conflict-leaves-onlookers-guessing-over-us-strategy