Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies following the conclusion that Vladimir Putin had not been truthful and direct in Ukraine talks, the US treasury chief has said.
These restrictions against Rosneft and Lukoil came a day after a planned Trump-Putin summit in Budapest was shelved, with the US administration voicing its frustration at the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations with Russia.
“Given President Putin’s refusal to stop this needless conflict, [the] treasury is imposing sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” the US treasury secretary, the Secretary, said on Wednesday.
He warned that the Treasury Department was prepared “to take further action if necessary” to back the President’s initiatives to end the war.
In an interview with Fox Business prior to the formal statement, the Treasury Secretary remarked the action was “one of the largest sanctions that we have done against the Russian Federation”.
The President has held off on fresh restrictions for months, explaining he aimed to convince the Russian President to make peace despite growing frustration with him. But the president’s patience apparently ran out in the week since he spoke to the Russian leader over the phone last Thursday.
EU nations similarly declared new sanctions on Russia on Wednesday. They include a prohibition on bringing in liquefied natural gas from Russia by the year 2027, the blacklisting of petroleum vessels operated by Russia and travel curbs on Russia’s diplomatic personnel.
