WASHINGTON, USA — The United States on Thursday, October 23, 2025, imposed sweeping new sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in a move designed to pressure Moscow into serious peace talks over its ongoing war in Ukraine.
The announcement came a day after President Donald Trump confirmed that his planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest had been postponed indefinitely.
“Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere,” Trump told reporters.
While analysts say the immediate economic impact on Russia may be limited, the decision marks a significant shift in Trump’s foreign policy stance.
The president had previously resisted sanctioning Moscow’s energy exports, arguing that such measures would only be justified once European countries had completely halted their purchases of Russian oil.
“This was a tremendous sanctions package,” Trump said at the White House.
“I just felt it was time. We waited a long time.” He added that the measures could be lifted if Russia agreed to stop the war.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the restrictions were necessary because of “Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war.”
He accused Russia’s energy sector of “fueling the Kremlin’s war machine.”
The sanctions target companies that collectively export more than three million barrels of oil per day and account for nearly half of Russia’s total output.
Rosneft alone produces about 6 percent of the world’s oil, according to British government estimates.
The Kremlin dismissed the move, insisting Russia was “immune” to Western pressure.
Moscow’s embassy in London warned that sanctions on its major energy firms would “disrupt global fuel supplies and drive up costs worldwide.”
The decision was welcomed in Kyiv, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the US action “a good signal.”
He said that stronger international pressure could help secure a ceasefire.
Zelenskyy met Trump at the White House last week seeking long-range Tomahawk missiles capable of striking inside Russia.
He left without the weapons but expressed hope that Trump might “change his mind,” as he did with the sanctions.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who was in Washington when the measures were announced, praised the move for “putting more pressure on Putin.”
Rutte said sustained economic isolation could bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
Britain last week unveiled its own sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves declaring that “there is no place for Russian oil on global markets.”
The European Union also approved a new sanctions package, including a phased ban on Russian liquefied natural gas by 2028.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the US and EU moves together sent “a clear signal … that we will keep up collective pressure on the aggressor.”
Russia’s key buyers — China, India, and Turkey — have not indicated any plans to reduce imports, though Trump has urged them to do so.
Despite diplomatic manoeuvres, fighting continues to rage in Ukraine.
Overnight strikes on Kyiv killed at least two people, while Russian bombardments elsewhere in the country left seven dead, including children.
Trump, who met Putin in Alaska in August to discuss a peace framework, has grown increasingly frustrated with what he sees as Moscow’s unwillingness to make concessions.
“We had a chance to make history,” he said. “But you can’t make peace with someone who doesn’t want it.”
