Frustrated with Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump announced what he called “enormous” sanctions against the Russian oil sector, hoping to force Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.

"These are enormous sanctions (...) And we hope they don't last too long. We hope the war ends," Trump declared while receiving NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House. "A meeting between Trump and Putin is not completely out of the question," said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, adding, however, that Russia's interest and action are needed to end the war in Ukraine.

The US decision comes just hours before the European Commission approved the 19th package of sanctions, which "will introduce new and comprehensive measures on oil and gas, the shadow fleet, and the Russian financial sector."

Trump's decision was welcomed by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, gathered in Brussels for the European Council. "It sends a strong and necessary message that (Russian) aggression will not go unanswered," the Ukrainian leader said.

With these measures, the United States is targeting two Russian hydrocarbon giants, Rosneft and Lukoil , and Washington says they are the result of Russia's "lack of serious willingness to engage in a peace process to end the war."

But Russian President Vladimir Putin quickly responded from Moscow. The sanctions, he said, are "serious," but will not have a "significant impact" on the country's economy, also because it is "impossible" to replace Russian oil products on the world market. He then issued a warning to Kiev: "If Ukraine were to launch attacks with long-range weapons," namely Tomahawks, "against Russia, the response would be astonishing, overwhelming."

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev went further, calling the new US sanctions—along with Trump's cancellation of the Budapest summit—"an act of war against Russia." "The United States is our enemy. And their talkative 'guardian of peace' is now fully on a war footing against Russia," Medvedev wrote on his Max channel.

China also opposes the US sanctions, arguing that "they are not based on international law and are not authorized by the UN Security Council." "It's a very complicated issue. We don't even have a permanent dialogue with Xi Jinping," Zelensky said, accusing Beijing of aiding Moscow. However, later in the day, Reuters, citing trade sources, reported that Chinese state-owned oil companies have suspended purchases of Russian seaborne crude. Beijing, however, has not confirmed the press reports. Meanwhile, refineries in India, the largest buyer of Russian seaborne crude, are ready to drastically cut their imports to comply with US sanctions, as Trump has repeatedly requested.

(Unioneonline)

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