Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump meet during a US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
President Donald Trump has slapped major sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies after concluding that Vladimir Putin was not being "honest and forthright" in Ukraine talks, the US treasury chief said on Wednesday, October 22. The sanctions came a day after a planned Trump-Putin summit in Budapest was shelved, with Washington expressing its disappointment at the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations with Moscow.
"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," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement announcing the sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil. He warned that Treasury was prepared "to take further action if necessary" to support President Donald Trump's efforts to end the war.
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War in Ukraine: Trump's wavering puts Europe under pressure
