U.S. sanctions Russia’s top 2 oil producers to press for ceasefire in Ukraine

U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday announced sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, in a bid to pressure Moscow to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was cited in a statement as saying.

Bessent said U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is prepared to take further action if necessary, while urging U.S. allies to join in and adhere to U.S. sanctions on Russia.

State-controlled Rosneft and privately held Lukoil are the two largest Russian oil producers, jointly accounting for nearly half of Russia’s total crude-oil exports, or around 2.2 million barrels a day in the first half of this year, according to Bloomberg estimates.

“I just felt it was time,” Trump said at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, adding that he hoped “they won’t be on for long” since he hoped the Russia-Ukraine conflict would be settled.

The move came one day after a planned Trump-Putin meeting in Hungary was put on hold.

“It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I canceled it,” Trump said of the meeting.

The United States and its allies have imposed multiple rounds of financial and trade sanctions on Russia since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022.

- Agencies