Standing in front of the White House complex on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered news that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been waiting for: “We are going to, either announce after the close this afternoon or first thing tomorrow morning, a substantial pickup in Russia sanctions.”
The formal announcement came hours later: Lukoil and Rosneft, Russia’s two largest oil companies, as well as dozens of subsidiary companies, are now barred from using the U.S.-led financial system. More importantly, third-party entities, including importers, exporters, financial institutions or anybody else doing business with these Russian outfits, risk facing U.S. sanctions themselves. President Donald Trump slapped Moscow with additional penalties once it became clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin wouldn’t cooperate with the White House’s push to end the war in Ukraine.
The purpose of the administration’s latest sanctions play is straightforward: drain Russia’s coffers, scare buyers of Russian oil such as China and India to look for other sources and, the White House hopes, compel Putin to settle a war that will enter its fifth year next February. Trump, frankly, is tired of the conflict and even more tired of Putin’s stonewalling of any diplomatic effort that doesn’t result in Moscow attaining its maximalist objectives.
Whether this tighter squeeze on the Russian economy will deliver the result Trump seeks is another question.
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