US President Donald Trump shocked Vladimir Putin by imposing surprise sanctions on Russian oil companies. They are already having their effect, writes the German publication Focus.de.
Trump's decision could facilitate Europe's plans to support Ukraine. He made this decision after realizing that the Russian president does not want to stop his war against Ukraine.
Within two days, the price of crude oil “Brent“ rose to its highest level since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022. European politicians welcomed Trump's move, having long called on him to take a tougher stance against Moscow.
The sanctions already seem to be having an effect. Companies in China and India, which previously bought large amounts of Russian energy, are reviewing their business relations with Moscow. This could further reduce Russia's revenues and seriously affect Putin's military budget.
China's state oil companies have suspended purchases of Russian crude by sea after the United States imposed sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies - – – – Rosneft “ and – Lukoil –, reported the – Reuters“.
At the same time, Indian refiners, the largest buyers of Russian oil by sea, are preparing to sharply reduce their imports from Moscow to comply with US restrictions imposed because of the war in Ukraine. According to analysts, the sharp decline in demand from China and India - Russia's two largest customers - will reduce Moscow's oil export revenues and likely raise world prices for the commodity, while major importers look for alternative supplies.
European politics could take advantage of Trump's sudden change of course. Analysts see this as an opportunity to use frozen Russian state assets in the EU to support Ukraine. These funds could finance a so-called “reparation loan“ of 140 billion euros.
The Russian economy is currently being mobilized by Vladimir Putin to finance mainly his military adventure in Ukraine. This directly affects the incomes of Russian citizens. A “Gallup“ poll found that 31 percent of Russians do not even have enough money for food. This indicator is lower than in the years of the pandemic. Moscow is looking for various ways to circumvent Western sanctions imposed after the Russian army invaded Ukraine in February 2022.