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US Sanctions Major Russian Oil Companies
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. ‘is prepared to take further action if necessary’ and called on Moscow to immediately agree to a cease-fire.
A board with the logo of Russia's oil producer Rosneft at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 5, 2024. Anton Vaganov/Reuters
Emel Akan
Reporter
10/22/2025|Updated: 10/23/2025
WASHINGTON—The United States announced on Oct. 22 new sanctions on Russia, targeting the country’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in an effort to limit the Kremlin’s ability to fund its war machine.
“I just felt it was time,” President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he hosted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. “We’ve waited a long time.
“These are tremendous sanctions,” Trump said.
“We hope that they won’t be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled.”
Rutte welcomed the new sanctions, saying that they would be “putting more pressure” on Russia.
“It’s all about changing the calculus,” he said.
The sanctions were imposed by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 22 and will also affect subsidiaries of the two oil companies.
“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“Given President [Vladimir] 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 is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions.”
The announcement came as cease-fire efforts had stalled. Trump canceled a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 21, saying that it would be “a waste of time.”
“Everytime I speak with Vladimir I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere,” Trump told reporters during his meeting with Rutte.
Asked about sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, Trump said it would take six months to a year of intense training to use the complex weapons effectively. He noted that the United States would not be involved in deploying the missiles against Russia.
Trump’s decision to cancel a potential summit with Putin followed a phone call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The two diplomats were expected to meet this week to prepare for a possible leaders’ summit, but the White House determined that the meeting was “not necessary” after the call.
Therefore, the president has “no plans” to meet with Putin in the immediate future, the White House said in a statement.
In August, Trump and Putin held a meeting in Alaska, which failed to generate a breakthrough for peace. After the summit, the Russian president was expected to hold a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but the meeting never took place.
During an event at the White House’s Rose Garden on Oct. 21, Trump said his administration had already worked to “put out eight wars” and that it would soon end a ninth, seemingly referring to the Russia–Ukraine war.
The Trump administration has recently increased pressure on Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Last week, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned Moscow that the United States and its NATO allies would “impose costs” on Russia if it did not quickly end the conflict.
Hegseth said the United States and Europe were sending a “clear message” to Russia.
“Now is the time to end this tragic war, stop the needless bloodshed, and come to the peace table,” he said.
“If this war does not end, if there is no path to peace in the short term, then the United States, along with our allies, will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression.”
Trump has also pushed other nations to stop purchasing Russian oil as Washington continues its pressure campaign on Moscow. On Oct. 15, Trump said India had pledged to stop buying oil from Russia “within a short period of time.”
“That’s a big step,” Trump said. “Now [I’ve] got to get China to do the same thing.”
The following day, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said the Senate would soon vote on a bill to grant Trump the authority to impose sweeping secondary sanctions on nations that continue to buy Russian oil.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 in April, and the bill currently has 84 co-sponsors.
Under the bill’s provisions, the United States would impose 500 percent tariffs on all Russian goods and services, as well as those of nations that buy Russian uranium and petroleum products.
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From The Epoch Times
Link:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/us-...ner&src_cmp=gp
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