President Donald Trump is amping up the economic pressure on Russia with sanctions on the nation’s two largest oil companies after his talks with President Vladimir Putin failed to produce a breakthrough on ending the war in Ukraine.
The sanctions are a major policy shift for Trump, who had not put sanctions on Russia over the war. Trump previously imposed additional 25% tariffs on goods from India in retaliation for it purchasing discounted Russian oil.
Trump said Oct. 22 during a White House event that the sanctions “certainly will have an impact” on Russia and that he hopes Putin will “become reasonable.”
“These are tremendous sanctions, these are very big because they’re against their two big oil companies,” Trump said, adding he hopes they won’t last long and a deal can be reached to end the war.
The Treasury Department announced that the sanctions will apply to oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil and some of their subsidiaries. Britain sanctioned both companies last week.
The tougher approach toward Putin comes as U.S. leaders express frustration with the Russian president and the stalled ceasefire negotiations in a war that has dragged on for more than three years.
“President Putin has not come to the table in an honest and forthright manner, as we’d hoped,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Fox Business interview.
Putin has rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire and refused to entertain concessions as part of a peace deal with Ukraine. Moscow continues to demand that Ukraine cede territory in any agreement to end the war.
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin stand next to each other during a press conference following their meeting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025.
Trump held a high-profile Alaska summit with Putin in August and had planned another meeting in Budapest but called it off, saying he didn’t want to “have a waste of time.” Trump is now targeting the oil revenue that has helped fund Russia’s military campaign.
Analysts said the measures were a big step but long overdue.
“This can’t just be one and done,” said Edward Fishman, a former U.S. official who is now a senior research scholar at Columbia University. He said the question will be whether the U.S. now threatens sanctions on anyone doing business with Rosneft and Lukoil.
Trump discussed the sanctions Oct. 22 during a White House meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who was visiting to discuss the war. NATO has been buying weapons from the U.S. and transfering them to Ukraine.
Rutte said the sanctions are about “changing the calculus” for Putin and getting him to the negotiating table.
“You have to put pressure,” Rutte said.
Contributing: Joey Garrison, Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump pressures Putin with sanctions on two Russian oil companies
