Putin defiant after Trump imposes sanctions on Russian oil giants over Ukraine war

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin remained defiant on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies in an effort to pressure the Kremlin to end the war in Ukraine. The move sent global oil prices surging by 5 percent.

According to Reuters, Chinese state oil companies have temporarily halted purchases of Russian crude following the sanctions, while Indian refiners, the largest buyers of Russian seaborne oil, are expected to sharply cut imports.

The sanctions target energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil, which together produce more than 5 percent of the world’s oil output. The decision marks a major reversal for Trump, who just last week said he planned to meet Putin in Budapest to discuss ending the conflict.

While the immediate economic impact on Moscow is expected to be limited, the sanctions signaled Washington’s intent to squeeze Russia’s finances and push the Kremlin toward a peace deal in its nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

Putin dismissed the sanctions as an “unfriendly act,” insisting they would not significantly hurt the Russian economy. He also warned that cutting oil supply would drive up prices globally, hurting countries like the United States.

“This is clearly an attempt to pressure Russia,” Putin said. “But no self-respecting country and no self-respecting people ever decide anything under pressure.”

Asked about Putin’s remarks, Trump told reporters, “If that’s how he feels, that’s fine. Let’s see how he feels about it six months from now.”

As Ukraine continues to seek long-range missiles from the United States and Europe, Putin warned that Moscow’s response to any attacks deep into Russian territory would be “very serious, if not overwhelming.”

Trump, in another reversal, announced that the planned summit with Putin had been canceled, saying it “just didn’t feel right” and would not lead to the outcome he wanted. “It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get,” Trump said. “So I canceled it, but we’ll do it in the future.”

Putin responded that Trump likely meant the summit had only been postponed. The two last met in Alaska in August.

As the conflict raged on, European Union leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Brussels to discuss long-term funding for Kyiv. EU leaders agreed to meet Ukraine’s financial needs over the next two years but stopped short of endorsing the use of frozen Russian assets as collateral for large loans after objections from Belgium.

Moscow warned that it would deliver a “painful response” if those assets were seized.

Zelenskiy welcomed Trump’s sanctions as “very important” but said stronger pressure was still needed to push Moscow toward a ceasefire.

Following his August meeting with Putin, Trump had dropped his call for an immediate ceasefire and embraced Moscow’s preference for negotiating a comprehensive peace agreement. In recent days, however, he reverted to backing an immediate ceasefire — a position Kyiv supports but Moscow continues to reject.

Russia maintains that a ceasefire would only serve as a temporary pause, allowing Ukraine to rearm while Russian forces currently hold the advantage on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Lithuania, a NATO and EU member, said two Russian military aircraft briefly violated its airspace on Thursday, prompting a formal protest and NATO’s response. Russia denied the incident.

In a separate move, the European Union approved its 19th package of sanctions against Russia, banning imports of Russian liquefied natural gas and targeting Chinese refiners and Central Asian banks.

Since the conflict began in 2022, the EU has reduced its reliance on Russian energy by roughly 90 percent. Still, it imported over 11 billion euros’ worth of Russian energy in the first eight months of this year, with LNG now accounting for the largest share.

Russia’s oil and gas revenues, down 21 percent year-on-year, continue to account for about a quarter of its national budget, the key funding source for its ongoing war in Ukraine. Analysts suggest that the impact of the latest sanctions may be mitigated by Russia’s high taxation on production rather than exports, thereby cushioning state finances in the short term.