WASHINGTON DC. — The United States has imposed sweeping sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil companies, in a sharp escalation of economic pressure aimed at forcing President Vladimir Putin to halt his ongoing war against Ukraine.
The measures, announced late Wednesday by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, mark the first major sanctions on Russia since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
They target the Kremlin’s core source of revenue — oil exports — which Washington says directly finance Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine.
“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said in a statement. “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. We are prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war.”
The sanctions effectively freeze all U.S.-based assets of Rosneft and Lukoil, ban American entities from doing business with them, and extend secondary restrictions to foreign firms facilitating Russian oil sales.
Analysts said the move could significantly disrupt Moscow’s global energy trade, at least in the short term.
The decision follows growing frustration within Washington over Putin’s unwillingness to negotiate a ceasefire, and came just a day after Trump cancelled a planned summit with the Russian leader, citing a lack of progress in diplomatic talks.
“It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Oval Office. “So I cancelled it. But we’ll do it in the future.”
The United Kingdom had sanctioned both companies a week earlier, while the European Union had imposed restrictions on Rosneft but not on Lukoil — largely due to exemptions for Hungary and Slovakia, which remain reliant on Russian crude.
The move is seen as a turning point in Trump’s foreign policy toward Moscow. His administration had previously oscillated between pressuring Ukraine to pursue peace and engaging Russia through backdoor diplomatic channels.
The new sanctions suggest a harder line — one aligning more closely with European allies’ calls for a unified front against Kremlin aggression.
The U.S. decision also comes amid speculation about Ukraine’s access to long-range weaponry. The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington had quietly lifted restrictions on Kyiv’s use of British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike inside Russia.
Trump dismissed the report as “fake news,” writing on social media that the United States “has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them.”
Former U.S. State Department sanctions official Edward Fishman said Rosneft’s inclusion on the sanctions list was a “significant escalation.”
“Rosneft was the most important Russian firm not yet under full U.S. sanctions,” he said, noting that the move could cause a “pullback from dealings with Russian oil in the short term.” Whether this becomes a long-term strategic squeeze, he added, “will depend on the U.S. commitment to active, ongoing enforcement.”
The sanctions were welcomed in Europe. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had spoken with Bessent before the announcement, describing it as “a clear signal from both sides of the Atlantic that we will keep up collective pressure on the aggressor.”
The EU is finalizing its 19th sanctions package, which is expected to include a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports, blacklisting of “shadow fleet” oil tankers, and new restrictions on Russian banks and diplomats.
The move underscores renewed transatlantic unity against Moscow and signals that the U.S. is prepared to use economic power as leverage to push for peace. Whether the sanctions will compel the Kremlin to alter its course — or deepen the global energy shock — remains to be seen.
For now, Washington’s message is unmistakable: Russia’s war economy will be starved of its financial lifeline unless Putin comes to the negotiating table.
