Trump levies new sanctions on Russian oil giants in push to end Ukraine war : NPR

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday announced new “massive sanctions” against the Russian oil industry that aim to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and end Moscow’s brutal war against Ukraine.

The sanctions against oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil followed months of calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as bipartisan pressure on Trump to hit Russia with tougher sanctions on its oil industry, the economic engine that has allowed Russia to continue running the scorching conflict even as it finds itself largely isolated internationally.

“Hopefully he becomes reasonable,” Trump said of Putin shortly after the Treasury Department announced sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies and their subsidiaries. “And I hope Zelenskyy is reasonable too. You know, it takes two to tango, as they say.”

The US administration announced the sanctions while NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington for talks with Trump. The military alliance has been coordinating arms deliveries to Ukraine, many of them purchased from the United States by Canada and European countries.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the new sanctions were a direct response to Moscow’s refusal to end its “senseless war” and an attempt to suffocate “the Kremlin’s war machine.”

Bessent added that the Treasury Department was prepared to take further action if necessary to support Trump’s effort to end the war. “We encourage our allies to join us and adhere to these sanctions.”

The announcement came after Russian drones and missiles bombed sites across Ukraine, killing at least six people, including a woman and her two young daughters.

The attack came in waves from Tuesday night into Wednesday and targeted at least eight Ukrainian cities as well as a village in the capital kyiv region, where an attack set fire to a house where the mother and her daughters aged 6 months and 12 years were staying, regional chief Mykola Kalashnyk said.

At least 29 people, including five children, were wounded in kyiv, which appeared to be the main target, authorities said.

Russian drones also struck a kindergarten in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, later Wednesday when children were in the building, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. One person was killed and six were injured, but no children were physically harmed, he said.

Rutte, in his Oval Office appearance, went out of his way to emphasize that the weaponry the United States is selling to Europe to provide to Ukraine has been essential in helping stop many attacks like the one that devastated the kindergarten.

“We need to make sure the air defense systems are in place, and we need the American systems to do it, and the Europeans are paying for it,” Rutte said. “It’s exactly the kind of actions we needed, and the President is doing it and trying everything he can to get this job done.”

Zelenskyy said many of the children were in shock. He said the attack targeted 10 different regions: kyiv, Odessa, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy and Sumy.

Peace efforts stall

Trump’s efforts to end the war that began with Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago have failed to gain traction. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration over Putin’s refusal to budge on his conditions for a deal after Ukraine offered a ceasefire and direct peace talks.

Trump said Tuesday that his plan for a quick meeting with Putin was on hold because he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.” European leaders accused Putin of stagnating.

Meanwhile, in what appeared to be a public reminder of Russia’s atomic arsenals, Putin on Wednesday led exercises of the country’s strategic nuclear forces.

Zelenskyy invited the European Union, the United States and the Group of Seven industrialized countries to force Russia to the negotiating table. Pressure can be brought to bear on Moscow “only through sanctions, long-range (missile) capabilities and coordinated diplomacy between all our partners,” he said.

More international economic sanctions against Russia are likely to be discussed at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. A meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, a group of 35 countries that support Ukraine, will take place in London on Friday.

Zelenskyy credited Trump’s comments that he was considering supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine to Putin’s willingness to meet. The US president later said he was wary of tapping into US supply of Tomahawks over concerns about available stocks.

Russia has made no significant progress on the battlefield, where a war of attrition has taken a heavy toll on Russian infantry and Ukraine has a manpower shortage, military analysts say. Both sides have invested in long-range strike capabilities to attack rear areas.

Ukraine says it hit key Russian chemical plant

The Ukrainian army’s general staff said its forces attacked a chemical plant on Tuesday night in Russia’s Bryansk region using British-made Storm Shadow air-launched missiles. The plant is an important part of the Russian military-industrial complex and produces gunpowder, explosives, missile fuel and ammunition, he said.

Russian officials in the region confirmed an attack but did not mention the plant.

Ukraine also claimed overnight strikes at the Saransk mechanical plant in Mordovia, Russia, which produces components for munitions and mines, and at the Makhachkala oil refinery in the Russian republic of Dagestan.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 33 Ukrainian drones in several regions overnight, including the area around St. Petersburg. Eight airports temporarily suspended flights due to the attacks.

In other developments, Zelenskyy arrived in Oslo, Norway, on Wednesday and then flew to Stockholm, where he and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson signed an agreement exploring the possibility of Ukraine purchasing up to 150 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets over the next decade or more. Ukraine has already received American-made F-16s and French Mirages.

Trump says Russia is on agenda for upcoming talks with Xi

The US president is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week when the two leaders travel to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Beijing has not provided Russia with direct support in the war, but has increased sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technologies that Moscow, in turn, is using to produce missiles, tanks, planes and other weapons for use in its war against Ukraine, according to a US assessment.

Trump has said he believes the war between Russia and Ukraine would end if all NATO countries stopped buying oil from Russia and slapped tariffs on China of 50% to 100% for its purchases of Russian oil.

“I think he could have a big influence on Putin,” Trump said of Xi Jinping.

Beijing has yet to confirm that Trump and Xi will meet.