US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies Wednesday, complaining that his talks with Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war "don't go anywhere."
The EU also unveiled a fresh wave of sanctions to pressure Russia to end its relentless, three-and-a-half-year invasion of its pro-Western neighbor.
US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that Russia is willing to negotiate peace in Ukraine and make a deal.
"I think now he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is willing to negotiate a little bit further, and I think he's willing to make a deal. We’ll see," Trump said at a news briefing in the White House on Wednesday following his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte
The United States is to impose one of its largest-ever sanctions packages against Russia because Vladimir Putin was not "honest" in talks with Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday. "President Putin has not come to the table in an honest and forthright manner, as we'd hoped," Bessent told Fox Business, adding that Trump was "disappointed at where we are in these talks."
ReplyDeleteThe United States imposed further sanctions on Russian oil companies, the US Department of Treasury said in a press release.
ReplyDeleteThe new measures "increase pressure on Russia’s energy sector and degrade the Kremlin’s ability to raise revenue" for continued military action and support its economy, the document reads. According to it, the move is "a result of Russia’s lack of serious commitment" toward resolving the Ukraine crisis.
The US Treasury specified that the new restrictions will target Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.
Furthermore, the United States stands ready to introduce more sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine as it expects its allies to join it in. "Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President [Donald] Trump’s effort to end yet another war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions," Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent was quoted as saying in the press release.
ReplyDeleteThe sanctions involve a freezing of all Rosneft and Lukoil assets in the United States, while barring all US companies from doing any business with the two Russian oil titans.
ReplyDelete"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," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Bessent later told the Fox Business program Kudlow that it was "one of the largest sanctions that we have done against the Russian Federation.
"President Putin has not come to the table in an honest and forthright manner, as we'd hoped," Bessent said, adding that Trump was "disappointed at where we are in these talks".