Trump hits top Russian oil companies after failed Putin talks

President Donald Trump has slapped major sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies after concluding that Vladimir Putin was not being "honest and forthright" in Ukraine talks, the US treasury chief said Wednesday. The sanctions came a day after a planned Trump-Putin summit in Budapest was shelved, with Washington expressing its disappointment at the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations with Moscow. "Given President Putin's refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia's two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin's war machine," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement announcing the sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil."Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don't go anywhere," Trump said in response to a question.

Trump: 'every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they just don’t go anywhere'

But 'that’s the way war is. You never know with war' https://t.co/Gwe37oZnse pic.twitter.com/AhgsiH5EUv

— RT (@RT_com) October 22, 2025

Trump has held off pulling the trigger on sanctions against Russia for months, but his patience snapped after plans for a fresh summit with Putin in Budapest collapsed.The EU also unveiled a fresh wave of sanctions to pressure Russia to end its relentless, three-and-a-half-year invasion of its pro-Western neighbor. The European Union agreed to impose new measures aimed at crimping Moscow's oil and gas revenues over the war, a spokesperson for the EU's current Danish presidency said.

That package -- the 19th from the EU since the Kremlin's 2022 invasion -- sought to keep the pressure on Russia in light of Trump's faltering peace push and an escalation of Russia's offensive. The sanctions came hours after Russia's latest overnight barrage on Ukraine killed seven people -- including two children -- and ripped into a kindergarten.