The U.S. Treasury Department’s new restrictions are aimed against Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, along with nearly 30 of their subsidiaries. The new sanctions are directly tied to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin refusing to end the Russo–Ukrainian war: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was “the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire.”
“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,” CNN quoted Bessent.
The secretary added that Washington is “prepared to take further action” if the Kremlin continues to demand Ukraine’s capitulation as a precondition for ceasefire.
Minutes later, Trump published the list of sanctioned Russia entities on his Truth Social platform. The U.S. president also confirmed that his planned meeting with Putin in Budapest was canceled, since it was clear the dictator was not going to negotiate ending the war in good faith.
In turn, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved three bills targeting Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. One measure would designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. The package also includes the STOP Russia and China Act and amendments to the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, or REPO Act, to improve the mechanism for using frozen Russian sovereign assets to benefit Ukraine. This legislation, however, is unlikely to become law in near future, since the U.S. government is in shutdown and the House of Representatives is not in session.
Earlier the same day, the European Union finally approved its 19th package of Russia sanctions, including a ban on imports of Russian LNG and measures against Moscow’s growing “shadow fleet” of malinsured oil tankers.