The new sanctions were announced a day after plans for a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin collapsed. Trump told reporters he canceled the meeting because it “didn’t feel right.” The U.S. Treasury Department announced that sanctions are targeting two of Russia’s largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, with the aim of weakening Moscow’s ability to finance its war machine, Reuters reports.
This measure represents a sharp turn by the White House, which until now has balanced between pressure on Moscow and attempts at a conciliatory approach to achieve peace in Ukraine. Just last week, Trump appeared ready to delay new measures against Russia.
– Now is the time to stop the killing and declare a truce immediately – said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Oil prices rose by more than two dollars a barrel after his comments.
For months, Trump resisted pressure from US lawmakers to impose energy sanctions, hoping Putin would agree to an end to the fighting. But as the end is not in sight, he said the time has come for action. Trump also said that he is not yet ready to supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, which Kiev has requested. He said it would take at least six months for Ukrainians to learn how to use them.
Ahead of a meeting next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, Trump said he would like Xi to use his influence with Putin to stop the fighting. Xi and Putin established a strategic partnership between their countries.
In a new show of force, the Kremlin released a video of General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, briefing Putin on military exercises. Russia said it fired missiles from land-based launchers, submarines and aircraft, including intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the US. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that Tu-22M3 strategic bombers were flying over the Baltic Sea, occasionally accompanied by fighter jets of foreign – possibly NATO – countries.
At key moments of the war in Ukraine, Putin recalled Russia’s nuclear capabilities as a warning to Kiev and its Western allies. NATO is also conducting nuclear deterrence exercises this month. EU countries approved the 19th package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, including a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, the Danish EU presidency said.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the US has lifted a restriction on Ukraine’s use of some long-range missiles supplied by its Western allies, which would allow Kiev to step up attacks on targets inside Russia. Trump denied the report in a post on social media.
On Wednesday, Sweden said it had signed a letter of intent to export Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, as European governments seek to bolster Kiev’s defenses in a war that has lasted three years and eight months since the start of the Russian invasion, with no sign of an end anytime soon.
Ukrainian pilots have already tested the Gripen in Sweden and it is a robust and relatively inexpensive aircraft compared to the American F-35. Volodymyr Zelensky said during a visit to the Swedish weapons manufacturer Saab that Ukraine plans to receive and start using Gripen next year, and that it expects to acquire at least 100 aircraft.
Russia and Ukraine fired missiles at each other overnight, while a new wave of uncertainty hung over American peacekeeping efforts.
After months of diplomatic deadlock, Putin and Trump spoke last week and suddenly announced a summit in Hungary. But after a Monday phone call between the two countries’ top diplomats, the White House said the next day that Trump had no plans to meet Putin in the near future. Trump said he did not want a futile meeting, which, according to the Kremlin, Putin also wanted to avoid.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
