The Trump administration has announced "massive sanctions" against Russia's major oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in a bid to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and end the war in Ukraine. The move follows months of pressure and recent deadly Russian attacks.
The Trump administration announced Wednesday new "massive sanctions" against Russia’s oil industry, specifically targeting oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil and their subsidiaries. The aim is to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into negotiations to end Moscow’s war on Ukraine. This decision followed months of calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and bipartisan pressure on Trump to impose harsher sanctions on Russia’s oil industry, which serves as the economic engine fueling the conflict. President Trump commented, "Hopefully he’ll become reasonable," referring to Putin, and added, "And hopefully Zelenskyy will be reasonable, too. You know, it takes two to tango, as they say." The sanctions were announced while NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington for talks with Trump. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that these new sanctions are a direct response to Moscow’s refusal to end its "senseless war" and an attempt to choke off "the Kremlin’s war machine," with the Treasury Department prepared for further action if needed. The announcement came after a recent wave of Russian drone and missile attacks across Ukraine, which killed at least six people, including a mother and her two young daughters in Kyiv, and wounded at least 29, also hitting a kindergarten in Kharkiv.
