Trump administration hardens stance against the Kremlin day after cancelling a planned summit with Russian leader<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US has sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia\u2019s two largest oil companies, as the Trump administration increased pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sanctions were the first against Russia since Donald Trump<\/a> returned to the White House in January, and were targeted to cut key revenues from oil sales that finance the Russian war machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The move against Russia marks the latest swing of the pendulum under the Trump administration from coercing Kyiv to sue for peace to growing frustration with Vladimir Putin\u2019s maximalist demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,\u201d said the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, in a statement announcing the sanctions against Russia<\/a>. \u201cGiven President Putin\u2019s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia\u2019s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin\u2019s war machine. Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump\u2019s effort to end yet another war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The British government sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil last week. The EU has sanctioned Rosneft, the Russian state-owned oil company, but not Lukoil, which is privately owned, largely due to exemptions for Hungary and Slovakia, which buy Russian oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump, speaking in the Oval Office with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Wednesday, also confirmed he had cancelled a planned summit with Putin<\/a> in another sign of a breakdown in negotiations between Washington and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe cancelled the meeting with President Putin,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t feel right to me. It didn\u2019t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get so I cancelled it. But we\u2019ll do it in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A report in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday said the administration had lifted restrictions on Ukraine\u2019s use of British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles, allowing Ukraine to use them for attacks deep inside of Russia despite concerns from Washington about a potential escalation of tensions with the Kremlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Trump denied on social media that he had lifted any restrictions. \u201cThe Wall Street Journal story on the U.S.A.\u2019s approval of Ukraine being allowed to use long range missiles deep into Russia is FAKE NEWS!\u201d Trump said. \u201cThe U.S. has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wednesday\u2019s sanctions were the latest and most direct attempt to cut revenues from Russian oil sales abroad. Previously, Trump had levied a 25% tariff on goods from India as what he called retaliation for that country\u2019s purchase of discounted Russian oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRosneft was the most important Russian firm not yet under full US sanctions,\u201d wrote Edward Fishman<\/a>, a former senior state department sanctions official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A big question that remained was whether the US would threaten foreign traders, banks and refineries that continue to facilitate the sale of Russian oil, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI expect, at the very least, some pullback from dealings with Russian oil in the short term,\u201d Fishman wrote. \u201cWhether this marks a long-term, strategic squeeze on Russia\u2019s oil revenues \u2013 the lifeblood of Putin\u2019s economy \u2013 will depend on the US commitment to active, ongoing enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The announcement marked a victory for Ukraine and its European allies, which have watched with concern as Trump appeared swayed by Putin\u2019s arguments that the only way to achieve peace would be through Ukraine ceding territory and agree to limit its military and economic partnerships with Europe<\/a> and the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she had spoken with Bessent shortly before the announcement and praised the new sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith the imminent adoption of the EU\u2019s 19th [sanctions] package, this is a clear signal from both sides of the Atlantic that we will keep up collective pressure on the aggressor,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EU is expected to introduce a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, blacklist ships in Russia\u2019s \u201cshadow fleet\u201d of oil tankers, forbid financial dealings with Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, and target a number of Russian banks and entities enabling Russia to evade the existing sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sanctions are also expected to limit the movement of Russian diplomats across the visa-free Schengen area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n