Trump, Russian oil sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil
The US president: 'Time to end the conflict in Ukraine, talks with Putin are useless'. And he will ask Xi Jinping to convince the Kremlin
Key points
A direct blow to Russia's oil to force Vladimir Putin to negotiate peace in Ukraine. In his volatile strategy on the war in Europe, Donald Trump has decided to impose new sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia's two main oil companies, accusing the Kremlin of 'not doing enough to end the conflict'.
The tension between Washington and Moscow is escalating: the summit between Trump and former friend Putin that was supposed to lead to a breakthrough in the war has been cancelled. And in the same hours that the new sanctions were announced, the Russian armed forces were flexing their muscles with a massive military exercise, in which intercontinental missile launches, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, were also tested.
"Talks with Putin lead nowhere"
"Every time I talk to Vladimir, I have nice conversations and then they go nowhere, they simply don't go anywhere. The talks are always positive but they lead nowhere," the US president reiterated while meeting, in the Oval Office of the White House, with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. "I cancelled the meeting with Putin, we will do it in the future, when the war is resolved," Trump said again, confirming the ongoing clash and the futility, at this stage, of the summit that was supposed to be held in Hungary.
The move marked an abrupt turnaround for the White House, which in recent months has oscillated between pressure and even threats against Moscow and a more conciliatory approach with Putin to achieve peace in Ukraine. Acting in an equally unpredictable manner towards the Ukraine of Volodymyr Zelensky: first shouted down in worldvision by the House Bank, then treated as a great leader, then deluded with the promise of long-range Tomahawk missiles, then again rejected and attacked, albeit not live, at the last summit in Washington.
Moscow's finances blocked
For months, Trump has resisted congressional pressure to impose sanctions on the Russian energy industry, hoping that Putin would agree to end the fighting. Even last week Trump seemed ready to further postpone the new measures against Moscow. But something must have changed, in the face of the impasse and in the memory of the face-to-face meeting with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, last August: with pats on the back, promises and handshakes between the two leaders that subsequently did not lead to any concrete results. "These are very heavy sanctions, enormous. And let's hope they don't last long. Let's hope the war ends," remarked Trump, always flanked by Rutte, who also flew to Washington to coordinate the White House's initiatives with the plans of the European allies.
