Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed not to bend to pressure from the West after the United States hit Russia’s two biggest oil companies with sanctions.
US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Russia’s top oil firms, Rosneft and Lukoil, on Wednesday in an effort to pressure Putin to reach a ceasefire in his country’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump’s sanctions carried the threat of risks to foreign financial institutions that do business with these firms — a warning that could make it harder for countries like India to continue to buy oil from Moscow.
The European Union adopted a new round of sweeping sanctions against Russian energy exports on Thursday, as well, banning liquefied natural gas imports.
While Putin called the US sanctions an “unfriendly act” on Thursday, the Russian president downplayed their effects.
“They are serious for us, of course, that is clear. And they will have certain consequences, but they will not significantly impact our economic wellbeing,” Putin said. “This is, of course, an attempt to put pressure on Russia. But no self-respecting country and no self-respecting people ever decides anything under pressure.”
The sanctions announced by Trump are the latest twist in his shifting policy on the war on Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly switched positions on the war: swinging from admonishing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not appreciating US support to criticising Putin for not being open to ceasefire negotiations.
Putin has called for the complete disarmament of Ukraine and for Russia to keep any territory it has seized during the war. That position seems to be non-negotiable for Ukraine, and Trump has been unable to make any headway between the two positions.
Plans for an in-person meeting between Trump and Putin fell apart this week after Trump proposed “freezing” the Russia-Ukraine war with a ceasefire along the current front lines.
While Trump said on Wednesday that he cancelled the meeting with the Russian president over Putin’s stance on Ukraine, the White House has said a meeting between the two presidents wasn’t completely off the table.
“I think the president and the entire administration hopes that one day that can happen again, but we want to make sure that there’s a tangible positive outcome out of that meeting,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.
Trump has also suggested he could send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, allowing it to hit longer-range targets deeper inside Russia. Zelenskyy had hoped to secure an agreement on the weapons in a meeting at the White House last week, but left without a deal.
On Thursday, Putin called any plans to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles “an attempt at escalation”.
“If such weapons are used to attack Russian territory, the response will be very serious, if not overwhelming. Let them think about it,” he said.
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