The United States sanctions major Russian oil companies

WashingtonNo Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine, but new sanctions on Russia are. The White House has announced a new package of measures against Moscow "as a result of the lack of a serious commitment to the peace process to end the war in Ukraine." "It's time to get a deal done, thousands of people are dying," said Donald Trump after meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. "Every time I talk to Putin, I have good conversations, but they don't go anywhere." However, criticism of his Russian counterpart has not translated into better treatment for Volodymyr Zelensky, who was booed by Trump last Friday once they were alone together.

"I hope [Putin] comes to his senses, and I hope Zelensky comes to his senses too. It takes two to tango," Trump said. The sanctions on Russian oil companies are the first real coercive measures that the Republican has taken against Moscow - beyond verbal threats and tweets calling for it to stop - however, Kiev has been suffering constant blackmail from Washington for months: since humiliating Zelensky in front of intelligence cameras last February.

The president has assured that "I've always heard that he [Putin] has wanted all of the territory, not just part of it. But I think now he'll be willing to negotiate a little more and close a deal." "We don't want him to have all of the territory," said Trump, who had previously said that Ukraine has always been "the apple of Putin's eye." The Republican's statement saying that he does not want to completely hand over the invaded country is not entirely reassuring, since it continues to leave the door open for Zelensky to have to give up the pre-2022 borders.

In a Treasury Department statement posted by Trump on Truth Social, it is explained that the sanctions package affects two of Russia's largest oil companies: Rosneft and Lukoil. "Due to President Putin's refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is imposing sanctions on two of Russia's largest oil companies, which fund the Kremlin machine. Treasury is prepared to take further actions in the future to support President Trump in his efforts to end another war," the statement said.

The announcement came just before President Donald Trump met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who traveled to the US capital to avoid further U-turns regarding the war. "These are major sanctions against two major [Russian] oil companies, and we hope they will not have to remain in place for long. We hope for an end to the war," the Republican said at the press conference after the meeting with Rutte. The president stated that he believes the Russians "want peace" even though Putin remains entrenched in his demand to keep all of Donbas to end the invasion.

The sanctions against Russia come the day after the White House confirmed that the Budapest summit between Trump and Vladimir Putin will not take place "imminently." The measure represents a return to pressure on the Russian president, who remains entrenched in the idea that to end the war, Ukraine must surrender and I completely handed over Donbas to him. In fact, according to what the Kremlin has revealed, the reason why the face-to-face meeting in Hungary has been suspended is because during Monday's call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the Russian had said that there was no point in holding any new meetings because Russia's position remained the same as in Al.

In the Oval Office, Trump has been quick to impose his version of the story, implying that it was him and not Putin, who cancelled the meeting. "We canceled the meeting with Putin because it didn't seem right to me. I had the feeling that they weren't going in the direction I think we should be going. So we canceled it, but we will do it in the future," the Republican said, trying to impose his version of the story that contrasts with that of the Kremlin.

Until now, Trump had not dared to follow through on his threat of new punitive measures in Russia amid negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, in addition to those already imposed by the previous administration of Joe Biden. The Republican president had only applied 25% tariffs on India as pressure to stop buying Russian oil. The US president announced that next week he will meet face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea and that during the meeting he will also raise the issue of Russian oil. Beijing is one of Moscow's other clients, but even so, Trump has not applied tariffs on them as he has done with New Delhi.

Following Trump's latest twists in the negotiations, Rutte has made a surprise visit to Washington to try to prevent Washington from once again distancing itself from European interests. In another example of his unpredictable nature, Trump said that "Europe has become a good friend. I think we have a close relationship with all of them [the European leaders]." The president's words contrast with the cooling of relations with Brussels at the beginning of his term and with his statements in which he ignored the war in Ukraine, saying it was a European problem.

The Republican's words also reflect his good rapport with Rutte, who has earned the appreciation of "daddy" Trump by feeding his ego. The president emphasized how pleased he is that the NATO Secretary General managed to get all allies to commit to a 5% defense spending target in the summer. All except Spain, for whom the Republican also had a few words. He again criticized Madrid, but in a much softer tone: he told Rutte that he is not "a team player" and that "you'll have to talk to Spain." "I could solve this problem very easily," he commented, without making further suggestions after previously calling for his expulsion from the group.

Long-range missiles

In parallel with the advance of new sanctions against the Kremlin, the Wall Street Journal exclusively reported that the United States has lifted restrictions on Kiev using long-range missiles provided by Western allies against targets inside Russia. Trump immediately denied the information to Truth Social, calling it "afake news". "The United States has nothing to do with these missiles, wherever they come from, or what Ukraine does," he wrote. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on social media that on Tuesday they used a British Storm Shadow cruise missile to attack a Russian plant in Brian.

The attack comes after the Pentagon transferred the authority to support such attacks to the top US commander in Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, who also serves as NATO commander.

has gone from suggesting delivering Tomahawk missiles to Kiev and saying that Ukraine could recover all of its pre-invasion borders by 2022, to privately booing Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the last meeting on Friday and cooling the idea of supplying him the weapons by past noon. mark a change in Trump's position.

Following the conversation, the Republican also announced that he would soon meet with Putin in Budapest to continue negotiating the future of Ukraine after the botched Anchorage meeting, where Trump left upon arriving at the council. The meeting was truncated, and the White House announced that it was suspended.