Trump has imposed the first major sanctions against the Russian economy: Rosneft and Lukoil are under attack

The Donald Trump administration has announced its first major package of financial sanctions targeting the Russian economy, part of Washington’s new strategy to force the Kremlin to end its war in Ukraine.

This is reported by Bloomberg.

Oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil were hit with sanctions, a decision that marked a change in Trump’s approach, as he had previously avoided tough economic measures against Moscow.

After the sanctions were announced, global markets reacted immediately: Brent crude oil prices jumped by more than 5%. Experts attribute this to concerns about possible disruptions in Russian oil supplies, which supported prices amid an expected surplus on the market.

Rosneft, led by Igor Sechin, a close confidant of Vladimir Putin, and Lukoil are key oil producers in Russia. Together, they provide almost half of crude oil exports, and tax revenues from the energy sector form about a quarter of the Russian federal budget, Bloomberg notes.

A similar sanctions package was reportedly considered by former President Joe Biden, but was abandoned at the time due to the risk of destabilizing energy markets and a possible price spike.

“For the first time since Donald Trump took office as US president, Washington has imposed full blocking sanctions against Russian energy companies,” Ambassador Olga Stefanyshyna said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the UK imposed similar restrictions on Rosneft and Lukoil last week. On Thursday, the European Union is expected to announce its own sanctions package, which is expected to include a ban on imports of liquefied natural gas from Russia.

As a reminder, European Union ambassadors agreed on the 19th for a package of sanctions against the Russian Federation due to the war against Ukraine.

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