Eric Lee / EPA
US President Donald Trump
Because Putin was “dishonest” with Trump and “refuses to stop this senseless war”. EU adopts yet another sanctions package against Russia.
The Trump administration announced this Wednesday sanctions against two major Russian oil groups, Rosneft e I locked itjustifying the new sanctions with “Putin’s refusal to stop this senseless war” against Ukraine.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced it, criticizing Moscow’s refusal to end its “senseless war” while US-led efforts to end the war have stalled and the Ukrainian president seeks more foreign military aid.
The sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as dozens of subsidiaries, followed months of bipartisan pressure on President Donald Trump to sanction Russia more harshly in its oil sector.
“Now is the time to stop the bloodshed and establish an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said in a statement.
The Treasury Department is, according to the official, prepared to take additional measures, if necessary, to support Trump’s effort to end the war. “We encourage our allies to join us and comply with these sanctions,” said Bessent.
According to the US Treasury Secretary, Putin was “neither honest nor frank” with Trump.
EU adopts yet another sanctions package
The European Union (EU) adopted the 19th package of sanctions against Russia on the same day, following the lifting of the Slovak blockade, the head of community diplomacy announced, stressing that it was increasingly difficult for Russia to finance war against Ukraine.
“We have just adopted our 19th sanctions package, which targets Russian banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, entities in India and China, among others. The EU is restricting the movements of Russian diplomats to combat destabilization attempts”, as well as taking steps to ban Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy revealed on X.
“It is increasingly difficult for Putin to finance this war”, concluded Kaja Kallas, in an adoption that was possible after Slovakia lifted its veto related to its energy imports and its economy dependent on Russian gas.
The European Union’s 19th sanctions package against Russia includes a complete blockade of Russian LNG imports from January 1, 2027, new financial restrictions prohibiting transactions with Russian banks and institutions in third countries, and measures against Russian payment systems.
Also through X, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, pointed out that, with the approval by the 27 Member States (in the Council), the EU “continues to exercise strong pressure about the aggressor.”
“For the first time, we are targeting Russia’s gas sectorthe heart of its war economy. We will not give in until the people of Ukraine have a just and lasting peace”, highlighted Ursula von der Leyen.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, highlighted in X the “greater pressure on Russia”.
“The adoption of the 19th EU sanctions package is another crucial step towards moving away from Russian fossil fuels. We must ensure that the impact of sanctions is maximum and that all loopholes are closed [pois] it’s not just about supporting Ukraine, [mas] of collective security”, said the leader of the European assembly.
O package also targets the so-called Russian “ghost fleet” – with more than 118 sanctioned ships – and imposes limits on the export of sensitive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, geospatial data and critical metallic components.
In addition, companies from China, India and other countries that support the Russian military industry were also included in the sanctions.
