US sanctions Russian oil companies over Ukraine war as Trump’s patience snaps
US sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil follow Russia’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire and the collapse of a planned Trump-Putin summit
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US slaps sanctions on Russian oil firms
US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies on Wednesday, complaining that his talks with Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war “don’t go anywhere”.
The European Union also unveiled a fresh wave of sanctions to pressure Russia to end its relentless, 3½-year invasion of its neighbour, which is allied with both Washington and Brussels.
Trump had held off pulling the trigger on sanctions against Russia for months, but his patience snapped after plans for a fresh summit with Putin in Budapest collapsed.
“Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere,” Trump said in response to a question from a journalist in the Oval Office.
But Trump added that he hoped the “tremendous sanctions” against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil would be short-lived. “We hope that the war will be settled,” he said alongside Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte.