Trump sanctions Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, cancels Putin summit

After months of hesitation between confrontation and conciliation towards Moscow, the president Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies and canceled a planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin – signaling a new attempt to pressure the Kremlin without committing to deeper U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine.

The measures, announced Wednesday, target Rosneft and Lukoil, key pillars of Russia’s energy sector, and constitute the administration’s most significant sanctions program since Trump returned to power. But they also come after years of similar Western actions that failed to slow Moscow’s military campaign.

“We canceled the meeting with President Putin. It just didn’t feel right to meet. We didn’t feel like we were going to get to where we need to get to,” Trump said Wednesday. “So I canceled it, but we will in the future.”

“Every time I talk to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t lead anywhere. They don’t lead anywhere,” Trump added. He was asked why he chose to impose sanctions Regarding oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft, he said: “I just felt it was time, we have waited a long time.”

WITKOFF STANDS FOR PEACE AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA AS SANCTIONS TARGET INDIA AND CHINA

Last week, Zelensky visited Washington in hopes of reaching a deal on Tomahawk missiles. But Putin pre-empted the meeting with a two-and-a-half-hour phone call with Trump a day earlier — and the Tomahawk deal was no more. (Ukrainian Presidency / Document/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Treasury Department announced designations under Executive Order 14024 to operate in the energy sector of the economy of the Russian Federation. The sanctions freeze all U.S.-linked assets of Rosneft and Lukoil and ban U.S. entities from doing business with them. Dozens of subsidiaries are also affected, extending restrictions to much of Russia’s global oil and gas network.

“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. “Treasury stands ready to take additional action as necessary to support President Trump’s efforts to end another war.”

Chinese oil giants have already begun suspending purchases of seaborne Russian crude following US sanctions. According to several business sources cited by Reuters, PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Zhenhua Oil have terminated short-term deals with Rosneft and Lukoil, citing compliance concerns.

The decline, along with reports that Indian refiners will sharply cut imports from Moscow, is expected to weigh on Russia’s oil revenues and tighten global supplies, pushing up prices of unsanctioned crude from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

TRUMP AND PUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP BECOMES SOUR AS PRESIDENT PUSHES FOR RESOLUTION WITH UKRAINE

The sanctions were announced just days after Trump abruptly canceled plans for a trilateral summit in Hungary with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — a meeting that had been touted as a potential breakthrough in efforts to end the conflict. The reversal continues a pattern that has defined Trump’s approach to Russia since his return to office: alternating bursts of engagement and confrontation that make it difficult for allies and adversaries to predict his next move.

President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were on track for a historic summit in Hungary – until the plans were abruptly scrapped. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Last week, Zelensky visited Washington in hopes of striking a deal for long-range Tomahawk missiles. But Putin preempted the meeting with a two-and-a-half-hour call with Trump the day before — and the missile deal evaporated.

“Now is the time to stop the massacres and establish an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said in announcing the sanctions. “Permanent peace depends entirely on Russia’s willingness to negotiate in good faith.”

Analysts say the sanctions are aimed at regaining leverage and forcing Moscow and kyiv back to the negotiating table after months of impasse. Trump often met with one side or the other and was more sympathetic to the point of view of the one he had just met.

An anonymous diplomat told Fox News Digital: “It basically makes both sides feel like they can manipulate him. Which doesn’t make either side want to negotiate, because both believe they can still get Trump on their side.”

Today, Trump says he doesn’t want to “waste time.”

Trump asks NATO allies to end Russian oil purchases before new US sanctions

Andrew D’Anieri, associate director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, said the sanctions are a welcome step but only part of a broader effort needed to curb Russia’s financing of the war. “The Trump administration’s decision to sanction Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil is a welcome step, as it makes it more difficult for Russia to continue its war against Ukraine,” he said. “It is significant that these designations come just a week after the UK sanctioned the same entities; sanctions have a greater effect when Western countries work together.”

He cautioned, however, that implementation would determine the outcome. “Enforcing these sanctions will be key to reducing Moscow’s oil revenues,” D’Anieri said. “Those who buy Russian oil will demand a steep discount to evade US sanctions, which in itself will hurt Russian revenues.”

The war in Ukraine has been going on for more than three and a half years. (Vladyslav Ukolov/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

“If Trump is serious about ending the war, he should continue to increase pressure on Moscow, including the threat of secondary sanctions and additional military aid to Ukraine,” he added. “This step alone will not be enough to get Putin to negotiate in good faith, but it is a step in the right direction.”

Former National Security Council official Jason Israel described the difference between the Biden and Trump approaches as a philosophical difference, not an objective one. “Both want to help Ukraine negotiate in force and avoid direct NATO involvement,” he said. “But Biden worked with his European partners to maintain the rules-based order. Trump took a more transactional approach – selling weapons to Ukraine financed by European partners – in an effort to speed up negotiations and shift more of the costs to allies.”

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Trump has long emphasized that he wants to end the war and avoid indefinite U.S. involvement. “Let it be cut as it is,” he said earlier this month, referring to Ukraine’s divided territory. “It’s cut off right now… They can negotiate something later. But for now, both sides of the conflict should stop at the battle line – go home, stop fighting, stop killing people.”

The sanctions, coupled with the summit’s cancellation, suggest a new phase in Trump’s balancing act: exerting economic pressure while leaving the door open for a future deal. “I don’t want to have a wasted meeting; I don’t want to waste time,” Trump told reporters Tuesday.