DONALD Trump has just blown a hole in Vladimir Putin’s warchest – and the shockwaves are already rippling through Moscow, Beijing and New Dehli.
In a move branded by the Kremlin as “an act of war”, the US President slapped sweeping sanctions on Russia’s oil titans Rosneft and Lukoil – and within hours, the pain began to bite.
Global oil prices surged nearly five per cent overnight, China’s state oil giants froze Russian purchases and India – Moscow’s biggest remaining lifeline — is preparing to slash imports.
For Putin, the timing couldn’t be worse.
His forces are still pounding Ukraine, his economy is sliding, and now two of his biggest customers are quietly turning off the taps.
“This is Trump’s biggest play yet to choke off the Kremlin’s war machine,” one European diplomat told reporters.
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“He’s showing Putin that there’s no peace without pressure.”
Together, Rosneft and Lukoil pump more than 3 million barrels of oil a day — about five per cent of global supply — and bankroll much of Russia’s war spending.
The sanctions freeze their US assets, bar all business with American firms, and threaten secondary sanctions against foreign banks that help process Russian oil trades.
That risk has spooked China.
PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Zhenhua Oil – the backbone of Beijing’s state energy empire – have all halted seaborne Russian oil purchases
“at least in the short-term,” trade sources told Reuters.
“Any bank that facilitates Russian oil sales and with exposure to the US financial system could be subject,” warned commodity trader Felipe Pohlmann Gonzaga.
“These latest restrictions will make Chinese and Indian players more reluctant to buy Russian oil – many won’t want to lose access to the American financial system.”
India — Moscow’s biggest remaining lifeline — is preparing to slash imports.
Industry giants like Reliance Industries and Bharat Petroleum are quietly rewiring their supply chains to steer clear of the Kremlin’s freshly blacklisted oil majors.
According to traders quoted by Reuters, Reliance – India’s top buyer of Russian crude – “plans to reduce or stop imports of Russian oil” to comply with US sanctions.
State refiners are following suit, moving fast to cut direct dealings with Rosneft and Lukoil.
The impact is seismic. Russia’s oil revenues are already plunging, and with both China and India now backing away, Putin’s war chest is bleeding hard currency.
The Kremlin has since erupted in fury.
Former Russian president and Putin loyalist Dmitry Medvedev raged that the sanctions marked “acts of war against Russia,” sneering that Trump had joined the “mad Europeans” in their crusade.
“The United States is our adversary,” Medvedev spat on Telegram.
“Their talkative ‘peacemaker’ is now fully on the warpath against Russia… This is now his conflict.”
Trump, however, brushed off the threats.
Speaking in the Oval Office alongside Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, he said: “Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere.”
He added that he hoped the sanctions “wouldn’t need to stay in place for long” – but made clear that Putin’s refusal to seek peace left him no choice.
EXPERT ANALYSIS: How can Trump force Putin into a peace deal
ON the latest edition of Harry Cole Saves The West, Harry was joined by Former Special Advisor to Ukraine General Zaluzhnyi Dan Rice to discuss Trump’s latest sanctions on Russia.
Rice believes that Trump may use the Middle East to help “fund victory” in Ukraine.
He may plan on getting the Saudis for example to pay Ukraine so they can buy long-range weapons for themselves rather than going to the US.
Trump will also be aware that Russia are running low on oil – whereas the Gulf States are certainly not.
Rice says there is a chance that the US is thinking about draining Vlad to a point where his oil supplies run out and he has to end the war in order to keep Russia’s economy alive.
Rice told Harry: “I think everybody realises that Putin does not want peace and I think President Trump has given every effort to secure peace without increasing and escalating the war.
“Now the goal is to fire enough long range weapons into Russia, destroy their economy, destroy their GDP and that will hurt Putin.
“He he will be forced between a poor and a difficult decision.”
Watch the latest episode of Harry Cole Saves The West now
