Donald Trump wanted to demonstrate this Wednesday that he continues to take the wheel of international politics and the negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. One day after canceling the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hungary, which his Government had announced days before, the United States Administration has toughened sanctions against Russia with one objective: to damage the economic engine that powers Moscow’s entire war machine: the Russian oil sector. The White House alleges a “lack of commitment” to peace, while the Kremlin responds with new nuclear maneuvers and a new show of force that puts the politics of fear back on the board.
Washington’s new measures are directed against the Kremlin’s economic core: Rosneft and Lukoil, the country’s two largest oil companies, along with more than thirty of their subsidiaries. The Treasury Department prohibits US companies and citizens from carrying out any transaction with them, blocks all their assets under North American jurisdiction and excludes the companies from the country’s financial system. In practice, the punishment cuts off Russia’s access to a crucial part of international financing and makes it more difficult to trade its crude oil on global markets.
State-owned Rosneft produces about 6% of the world’s oil and almost half of Russia’s, while together with Lukoil they export more than three million barrels a day. According to the Treasury, the sanctions are also extended to directly or indirectly controlled subsidiaries, which multiplies their reach and hits the commercial network that sustains Moscow’s energy revenues.
Only after detailing the package did Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explain the political motivation. “Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire. In the face of President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, the Treasury is sanctioning the two largest Russian oil companies that finance the Kremlin’s war machine,” he said in a statement.
According to the economic official, the measure seeks to “undermine the Kremlin’s ability to sustain the war” and force Russia to return to the negotiating table. Bessent warned that his department “will take further action if necessary” and encouraged US allies to “join these sanctions and enforce them.”
