The Trump administration slapped sanctions on two major Russian oil companies Wednesday, upping the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin over the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“These are tremendous sanctions against their two big oil companies, and we hope that they won’t be on for long,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “We hope that the war will be settled.”
The sanctions, which cut off the companies’ ability to do business with the U.S., could disrupt Russia’s oil profits. Until now, Trump had resisted placing new sanctions on Russia, and his decision to do so signals a new phase in his efforts to end the war.
“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,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release. “Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions.”
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The administration’s decision comes less than a week after Trump had what he called a “productive” phone call with Putin. After the call, Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet with Russian counterparts and that Trump would meet with Putin in Hungary in the coming weeks.
While Rubio and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, did speak, the White House called off the meeting between Trump and Putin afterward.
On Wednesday, Bessent said on Fox Business that Trump was not happy with the progress of talks.
“President Putin has not come to the table in an honest and forthright manner, as we’d hoped. There were talks in Alaska, President Trump walked away when he realized that things were not moving forward,” he said. “There have been behind-the-scenes talks, but I believe that the president is disappointed at the — where we are in these talks.”
The White House has not yet given Congress the green light to move the Russian sanctions bill, which would hit Russia harder than Wednesday’s announced sanctions. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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