Trump administration slaps sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies over Ukraine war

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced new sanctions Wednesday against Russia’s two biggest oil companies and blasted Moscow’s refusal to end its “senseless war” in Ukraine, as the Trump administration struggles to strike a ceasefire deal and the Ukrainian president seeks more foreign military help.

The sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as dozens of subsidiaries, followed months of bipartisan pressure on President Trump to hit Russia with harder sanctions on its oil industry.

“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said in a statement. Given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine.”

Bessent said the Treasury Department is 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.”

The announcement came after Russian drones and missiles blasted sites across Ukraine, killing at least six people, including a woman and her two young daughters.

The attack came in waves from Tuesday night into Wednesday and targeted at least eight Ukrainian cities, as well as a village in the region of the capital, Kyiv, where a strike set fire to a house in which the mother and her 6-month-old and 12-year-old daughters were staying, regional head Mykola Kalashnyk said.

At least 29 people, including five children, were wounded in Kyiv, which appeared to be the main target, authorities said.

Russian drones also hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, later Wednesday when children were in the building, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. One person was killed and six were hurt, but no children were physically harmed, he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said many of the children were in shock.

Russia fired 405 strike and decoy drones and 28 missiles, mainly targeting Kyiv, Ukraine’s air force said.

The new sanctions on Russia were unveiled as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Washington for talks with Mr. Trump. The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them purchased from the United States by Canada and European countries.

“I’m absolutely convinced that with sustained pressure, we will be able to get Putin to the table to agree with a ceasefire,” Rutte told reporters Wednesday.

Mr. Trump’s efforts to end the war that started with Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago have failed to gain traction. The U.S. president has repeatedly expressed frustration with Putin’s refusal to budge from his conditions for a settlement after Ukraine offered a ceasefire and direct peace talks.

Mr. Trump floated meeting with Putin in Hungary last week. But on Tuesday, he said his plan for a swift meeting with Putin was on hold because he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.” European leaders accused Putin of stalling.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Trump’s proposal to freeze the conflict where it stands on the front line “was a good compromise” — a step that could pave the way for negotiations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the planned summit requires careful preparation, suggesting that laying the groundwork could be protracted. “No one wants to waste time: neither President Trump nor President Putin,” he said.

In what appeared to be a public reminder of Russian atomic arsenals, Putin on Wednesday directed drills of the country’s strategic nuclear forces.

Zelenskyy urged the European Union, the United States and the Group of Seven industrialized nations to force Russia to the negotiating table. Pressure can be applied on Moscow “only through sanctions, long-range (missile) capabilities and coordinated diplomacy among all our partners,” he said.

More international economic sanctions on Russia are likely to be discussed Thursday at an EU summit in Brussels. On Friday, a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing — a group of 35 countries that support Ukraine — is to take place in London.

Zelenskyy credited Mr. Trump’s remarks that he was considering supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for Putin’s willingness to meet. The American president later said he was wary of tapping into the U.S. supply of Tomahawks over concerns about available stocks.