United States President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in a bid to put pressure on the Kremlin to end its ongoing war with Ukraine. The Republican leader called these sanctions ‘tremendous and big,’ citing that the war will be settled. Washington’s move comes after months of stalled diplomacy and mounting resentment with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, “Today is a very big day. Look, these are tremendous sanctions. These are very big. Those are against their two big oil companies… We hope that the war will be settled. We just answered questions related to the various forms of missiles and everything else we’re examining. However, we don’t think that will be necessary. We would like to see them just take the line that has been formed over quite a long period of time and go home.” He made the statements while hosting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Meanwhile, the US President highlighted that many Russians and Ukrainians were killed last week. He called it ‘ridiculous and reiterated that he would like the conflict to end. “We think it’s ridiculous, and we’d like to have it end. I think they both want peace at this point. it’s almost four years… If I were president, it never would have started,” Trump said.
On being questioned about the elevation in sanctions against Russia, Trump said, “I just felt it was time. We’ve waited a long time. I thought that we’d go long before the Middle East. We did the Middle East plus seven. We did seven different wars, from Pakistan and India to many others… All these wars I did. With the one that we have left, it’ll be nine. We have one left, and I think we’ll get that done too.”
The sanctions imposed by the US Department of the Treasury aim to degrade Russia’s ability to generate funds for its war machine. In an official statement, the US Treasury said, “Today’s actions increase pressure on Russia’s energy sector and degrade the Kremlin’s ability to raise revenue for its war machine and support its weakened economy. The United States will continue to advocate for a peaceful resolution to the war, and a permanent peace depends entirely on Russia’s willingness to negotiate in good faith. Treasury will continue to use its authorities in support of a peace process.”
