The United States has announced a new package of anti-Russian sanctions, which includes measures against Rosneft, Lukoil and 34 of their subsidiaries.
„Today's actions are aimed at two of the largest Russian oil companies, „Rosneft“ and „Lukoil“, which are already included in the sanctions list. In addition, the Ministry of Finance adds a number of subsidiaries of „Rosneft“ and “Lukoil“, based in Russia, to the sanctions list“, the department said in a statement.
The new sanctions apply to all entities controlled by “Rosneft“ and “Lukoil“ by 50% or more, even if they are not directly included in the sanctions list. Among those affected by the restrictions are 28 subsidiaries of “Rosneft“, including Sibneftegaz, Bashneft-Dobicha, Grozneftegaz, Samaraneftegaz, RN-Yuganskneftegaz and several oil refineries, and six subsidiaries of “Lukoil” - including Lukoil-Perm, Lukoil-Kaliningradmorneft, Lukoil-West Siberia and RITEK.
Transactions with “Lukoil“ and “Rosneft“ will be permitted if they are related to restrictions on activities due to sanctions until November 21.
Another document permits for the same period transactions related to the sale or transfer of debt obligations or assets in Rosneft, Lukoil and their subsidiaries to persons not registered in the United States. These transactions were initiated before October 22. The third document allows for transactions until November 21, involving the purchase of goods and services at Lukoil facilities outside the Russian Federation, as well as transactions necessary to terminate their activities.
The US Treasury Department said that the imposition of new sanctions against Russia was due to Moscow's unwillingness to continue the peace process in Ukraine.
Earlier on Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant announced a significant increase in sanctions against Russia. According to the minister, they will be among the largest ever imposed by Washington on Moscow.
On the same day, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved three anti-Russian bills. The first of them proposes the introduction of economic sanctions against Russia. The second is the introduction of economic sanctions against China. The third draft envisages the transfer of Russian assets held in the US to Kiev every 90 days.
The US sanctions are designed to "increase pressure on the Russian energy sector and reduce the Kremlin's ability to make profits" to wage war and support the economy. The statement said the sanctions were imposed "due to Russia's lack of seriousness" in resolving the Ukrainian crisis.
According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, quoted in the document, the restrictions were imposed on "two of the largest Russian oil companies". He also said that Washington was “ready to take additional measures if necessary“.
US President Donald Trump claims that he waited a long time before imposing sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft.
“I just thought it was time. I waited a long time“, the American leader told reporters at the White House after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The American leader stressed that he expected an agreement in Ukraine before an agreement was reached to end the conflict in Gaza.
Trump also reiterated that he had ended eight conflicts. “All these wars that I have been involved in. And now there is one left. We have one left and it will be nine“, he added, referring to the conflict in Ukraine. "And I think we can do that too," the US leader said, referring to the agreement.
Trump believes India will almost completely stop buying Russian oil by the end of 2025.
"It's a process. You can't just stop it. But by the end of the year, they will almost completely stop," the US leader said. "This is something important," Trump said. According to the data he provided, India buys "almost 40%" of its oil from Russia.
He did not confirm his intention to put pressure on Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to convince Beijing to stop buying Russian oil. "China is a little different," Trump said.
At the same time, he said that Russia and China "by nature cannot be friendly" to each other and that the rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing was facilitated by the policies of former US presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. "They are closer than they normally would be," Trump said. He himself did not mind Moscow and Beijing maintaining "friendly relations" with each other.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko earlier told TASS that oil supplies from Russia to India were still continuing. “Everything is continuing,” he said, commenting on Trump’s recent statements promising to maintain high tariffs on India unless it stops buying Russian energy products. On August 6, the United States imposed an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of oil and oil products from Russia. At the end of August, US tariffs on Indian goods and services were increased to 50%.
On October 15, Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally informed him of New Delhi’s readiness to stop buying Russian oil. However, the Indian Foreign Ministry later stressed that there was no information about any contact between Modi and Trump on that day. New Delhi focuses on the interests of consumers when it comes to energy imports, an Indian Foreign Ministry official noted.