Trump does an about-face, slaps sanctions on Russia

London: US President Donald Trump has authorised tough new sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil exporters in a sudden move to intensify pressure on the country after the collapse of an attempted summit to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The move hardens American policy against Russian President Vladimir Putin by seeking to slash the export revenue that finances his policies, targeting exporters Lukoil and Rosneft as well as dozens of their subsidiaries.

Trump issued a short statement calling for an immediate ceasefire after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the sanctions, which also target banks and other companies that support the Russian military and industrial base.

The move came hours after Putin staged a provocative missile launch in an attempt to prove his forces were ready for nuclear war, a signal he has used in the past to try to ward off action from major powers.

A broadcast showed Putin sitting at a circular desk with six screens to monitor the launch of an intercontinental missile from northern Russia; at the same time, a submarine fired a missile from the Barents Sea.

Russia also sent Tupolev Tu-95 bombers into the air to fire cruise missiles and issued a statement claiming it had tested its military command structure and the procedures for launching nuclear weapons.

The display came after Ukraine proved its ability to strike targets deep inside Russia by using a Storm Shadow missile supplied by Britain to destroy a Russian plant that manufactured explosives and rocket fuel.

Ukraine has also claimed increasing success by sending drones to strike an oil refinery in Dagestan on the Caspian Sea and a machinery plant in Saransk, about 630 kilometres east of Moscow.

Bessent said the US Treasury Department was prepared to take further action if necessary to support Trump’s effort to end the conflict, calling it a “senseless war” and urging allies to back the sanctions.

“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the move and noted that the United Kingdom and others had imposed sanctions on the same Russian oil companies a week ago.

“Putin must pay the price for his needless aggression. The killing must end now,” Starmer said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with Bessent around the time the sanctions were announced and swiftly backed them with a statement.

Hours earlier, the European Union approved its 19th package of sanctions against Russia, including a ban on Russian LNG imports into Europe, going further than previous restrictions. The move was a response to Trump’s complaint that some NATO member states were still buying Russian oil and gas.

While most EU members have stopped buying the oil and gas, Slovakia and Hungary have continued to do so. Turkey, a NATO member but not an EU member, also buys Russian oil.

The gas ban will take effect in two stages: short-term contracts will end after six months and long-term contracts from January 1, 2027. The full ban will apply a year earlier than the European Commission’s previous road map to end the reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

Trump this week cancelled plans for a summit with Putin by declaring he did not want a “wasted” meeting, days after he announced the idea of holding talks in Hungary over the war in Ukraine.

While Trump appeared willing to discuss the terms of a ceasefire, Putin held out for a settlement that would confirm Russia’s hold on all the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, as well as Crimea and other parts of the country – a position Ukraine rejects.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Trump last week that he could not accept the Russian claims, and has since turned to European leaders to try to gain more support in the hope of intensifying military pressure on Putin.

Trump on Thursday AEDT said the summit was cancelled due to a lack of diplomatic progress and a sense that the timing was off.

“It just didn’t feel right to me. It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I cancelled it, but we’ll do it in the future,” he said.

“In terms of honesty, the only thing I can say is, every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere.”

The talk of a peace deal for Ukraine, which grew louder after the ceasefire in Gaza last week, has given way to displays of military might on both sides of the European war.

Ukraine’s government said a Russian drone strike had hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv in the latest overnight attacks, killing one person and wounding seven others.

“Clearly, Russia is growing more brazen,” said Zelensky.

“These strikes are Russia’s spit in the face to everyone who insists on a peaceful resolution. Thugs and terrorists can only be put in their place by force.”

Bessent outlined the sanctions on Russia as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington for talks with Trump.

Until now, Trump had eschewed sanctions as a way to pressure Moscow over the war, instead relying on trade measures, including 25 per cent tariffs on goods from India, imposed in retaliation for its purchases of Russian oil.

Trump said he hoped the fresh sanctions would not need to be in place for long.

European leaders, meanwhile, intend to demonstrate their support for Ukraine at a gathering of the European Union’s peak council on Thursday, Brussels time, and a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” in London on Friday.

While the Coalition was first convened by Britain’s Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss options for keeping the peace in the event of a ceasefire, it has become a forum to negotiate more military support for Ukraine.

A key objective at the European Council meeting, a regular forum for the leaders of the member states, is to agree on a loan to Ukraine worth as much as €140 billion ($250 billion) using frozen Russian assets as collateral.

Ukraine is seeking to buy more Patriot missile defence systems from the US to defend its territory, but Trump has turned down a request for Tomahawk missiles that could strike targets deep inside Russia.

Putin vigorously opposed the sale of Tomahawks and followed that with his display of Russia’s nuclear capabilities by staging the long-range missile launches from land, sea and air.

Zelensky met Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Wednesday to seal an agreement to buy Gripen fighter jets with the capacity to strike targets in Russia.

“Everyone can see what threats they help counter. We expect that the future contract will enable us to obtain at least 100 of these jets,” Zelensky said.

With AP, Reuters

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