The United States unveiled new sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil companies, in a bid to push Moscow toward a negotiated peace in Ukraine, a day after President Donald Trump said his planned meeting with Vladimir Putin in Budapest would be postponed indefinitely.
Trump told reporters that conversations with the Russian leader had stalled. “Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere,” he said.
He added that he hoped the sanctions would force progress but could be lifted swiftly if Russia agreed to halt the war.
While the immediate economic hit to Russia is expected to be limited, the measures mark a sharp turn for Trump, who had previously said he would not impose sanctions until European nations stopped buying Russian oil. The Kremlin said Russia was “immune” to the latest steps.
The White House said the move follows months of appeals from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called the measures a “good signal” and argued that a ceasefire could be attainable if other countries added pressure.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the penalties were necessary because of “Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war,” describing Rosneft and Lukoil as key funders of the Kremlin’s “war machine.”
Oil and gas are Russia’s biggest exports. The two firms together ship about 3.1 million barrels per day, with Rosneft producing nearly half of Russia’s crude—roughly 6% of global supply, according to UK estimates. Major buyers include China, India and Turkey. Trump has urged those countries to curb purchases to intensify economic pressure.
India is poised to sharply reduce imports following the U.S. announcement, Reuters reported, citing industry sources, while China said it opposed the sanctions. Ukraine has separately struck Russian refineries and energy infrastructure in recent months in an effort to dent Moscow’s revenues.
Trump said an in-person meeting with Putin—floated after an unscheduled phone call from the Russian leader—was now on hold following a conversation between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “I didn’t want a wasted meeting,” Trump said.
The U.S. president also disclosed he had refused Tomahawk long-range missiles to Kyiv, saying the weapons were “highly complex” and required a year of intensive training, though Zelenskyy suggested Trump could still change his mind, as with sanctions.
Fighting continued overnight. Strikes on Kyiv killed at least two people, officials said, while earlier Russian bombardments left at least seven dead in other parts of Ukraine, including children. Meanwhile, electricity was restored on Thursday to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which had been without external power for about a month—“a crucial step for nuclear safety and security,” the UN atomic watchdog said.
Source: BBC
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