President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced major new sanctions on Russia, after canceling his proposed meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Budapest.
‘These are tremendous sanctions,’ the president said, adding that the ‘hoped they would not be on for long.’
The president made his remarks during an Oval Office meeting with NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte at the White House on Wednesday.
The sanctions specifically target two of Russia’s largest oil companies, as the White House referred to them as the primary funders of ‘the Kremlin’s war machine.’
The sanctions apply to Russia’s Open Joint Stock Company Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft) and Lukoil OAO (Lukoil) and it’s subsidiaries.
Trump is deploying stronger action against Russia to pressure them to the negotiating table as his efforts to end the war in Ukraine continue.
The president initially indicated he could be willing to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine and invited President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet with him at the White House on Monday.
But on Wednesday he indicated that he would not move forward to send the long-range missiles to Zelensky.
On Wednesday evening, the president also denounced a story from The Wall Street Journal reporting that the United States had approved the use of long range missiles. into Russia was ‘fake news.
‘The U.S. has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them!’ he wrote on social media.
But the White House appears to be readying more pressure on Russia.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed to reporters in the White House driveway that they were readying increased sanctions on Russia, to be announced late Wednesday evening or on Thursday morning.
‘We are going to either announce after the close this afternoon or first thing tomorrow morning a substantial pickup in Russia sanctions,’ Bessent told reporters in the White House driveway on Wednesday.
The president confirmed Tuesday that the planned meeting with Putin was canceled.
‘I don’t want to have a wasted meeting. I don’t want to have a waste of time,’ he told reporters in the Oval Office.
