PRESIDENT Donald Trump has imposed direct sanctions on Russia to pressure Vladimir Putin to agree to an “immediate ceasefire” in the Ukraine war.
It is the first time in his second term that Trump slapped direct sanctions on Russia – and it comes amid his growing frustration with Moscow over the raging war.
The sanctions were against Rosneft and Lukoil – the two largest Russian oil companies that help fuel Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – as well as dozens of their subsidiaries.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “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.
“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire.”
Bessent said the Treasury Department was prepared to take further action if necessary to support Trump’s effort to end the war.
“We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions,” he added.
Bessent made the comments as Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington for talks with Trump.
The US president said he expects Putin to “become reasonable” after the blistering sanctions.
Speaking at a press conference alongside the Nato chief, Trump said: “They’re massive sanctions, and sanctions on oil, the two biggest oil companies, among the biggest in the world.
“Hopefully it’ll push [Putin]. Hopefully he’ll become reasonable, and hopefully [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy will be reasonable too.”
Responding to the news, Sir Keir Starmer said: “Last week, the UK sanctioned Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund Putin’s war machine.
“I’m pleased the US has now joined us with substantial sanctions on the same two oil companies.
“Putin must pay the price for his needless aggression. The killing must end now.”
Trump, who has so far been unable to bring peace to war-torn Ukraine, is said to be getting frustrated with Putin’s unwillingness to stop the war.
Yesterday, the White House confirmed that plans for crunch talks between Trump and Putin in Hungary have now been shelved.
Trump claimed he and Putin had agreed to meet in Hungary in the coming weeks after a “very productive” phone call last week.
But a White House official said that there are no plans for a meeting between Trump and Putin in the near future.
Trump hit out at Putin, saying that a meeting with the despot would be a total “waste of time” as he isn’t serious about wanting peace.
During a press conference with Rutte at the White House, Trump said: “Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere.”
The US president has previously admitted that Putin may be playing for time.
In recent days, a slew of Russia’s top officials have downplayed any notion of accepting peace terms put forward by the US.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: “An immediate ceasefire in Ukraine would mean only one thing: most of it would remain under Nazi rule.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added that Moscow will only stop the fighting on their own terms.
He said: “This topic was repeatedly raised in various forms during contacts between Russia and the US.
“The Russian side answered every time, this answer is well known: the consistency of Russia’s position doesn’t change.”
This rhetoric quickly caught the eye of Trump and his fellow top officials.
In a turbulent 24 hours, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called off a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky linked Washington’s decision not to give Kyiv long-range Tomahawk missiles to the collapse in the peace talks.
He said that “Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy” when it became clear that Trump had delayed any decision to give the Ukrainians Tomahawks.
“Russia is once again doing everything it can to abandon diplomacy,” he added.
In recent days, Trump has shown openness to selling Ukraine long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, even as Putin warned against it.
But following Thursday’s call with Putin, Trump appeared to downplay the prospects of Ukraine getting the missiles.
The long-range missiles have a maximum range of 2,500km with warheads that weigh almost half a ton – with military experts saying it will be a “game changer” for Kyiv.
Greenlighting Tomahawk cruise missiles would be hugely symbolic for Ukraine – underlining that Washington is clearly back on Kyiv’s side.
Kyiv sees the 1,500-mile-range missile as a critical deterrent. — one capable of crippling Russian supply lines and destroying missile and drone factories far behind enemy lines.
Zelensky met Trump on Friday at the White House in hopes of securing the delivery of the long-range missiles.
But he had to walk away without any commitments from the US president.
Trump’s divisive peace plan
AS Trump battles to end another key global conflict, he is facing perhaps his toughest task to date – Vladimir Putin.
The pair met for historic peace talks in Alaska on August 15, where the plan in Trump’s eyes was to get Vlad to the negotiating table.
Things didn’t go quite to plan as the pair shared a jovial few hours in each other’s company.
Little geopolitical work was undertaken regarding ending the war as Putin left to go back to Moscow and launch more deadly attacks on Ukraine.
His strikes have only ramped up in the two months since he met with Trump.
Now, all eyes are back on Ukraine following Trump’s Gaza peace declaration.
The US president hosted Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington last week as Kyiv pleaded with the US to send them Tomahawk missiles to be used against Russia.
Trump declined to agree to the deal and even erupted by shouting and swearing at Zelensky as he told him to accept Putin’s terms, sources told the Financial Times.
A defiant Zelensky managed to get the US leader back on side as Trump put forward a new peace plan.
On Sunday, he suggested freezing the frontline and drawing new borders along it – which would mean Ukraine handing vast swathes to Russia.
This would give Putin almost full control of the Donbas – which he has demanded as a condition for ending the war – but for a small stronghold still under Ukrainian control in the Donetsk oblast.
Russia has so far failed to capture Ukraine’s sturdy “fortress belt” – but is adamant that any peace settlement will see it handed over.
But even this deal wasn’t good enough for the Kremlin.
