White House imposes sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Thursday 23 Oct 2025
(Sharecast News) - The US has imposed fresh sanctions on Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil, as it looks to ramp up pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
Donald Trump said that while he continued to have "good conversations" with Vladimir Putin, "they don't go anywhere".
Speaking following a meeting with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, the US president told reporters: "These are tremendous sanctions.
"They're big, these are against their two big oil companies and we hope they won't be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled."
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said: "Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire.
"Given that president Putin's refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia's two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin war machine. Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary."
Oil prices jumped following the announcement.
As at 0800 BST, Brent crude was trading 3% higher at $64.60 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate was also 3% stronger, at $60.46.
These are the first direct sanctions imposed on Russian companies by the current Trump administration.
The UK imposed a similar package of sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil last week, arguing that there was "no place for Russian oil on global markets".
The two companies export around 3.1m barrels of oil per day, with Rosneft responsible for nearly half of all Russian oil production.
Oil and gas remain Russia's biggest exports. While demand from the west has been severely curtailed following the invasion of Ukraine, it continues to sell to China, India and Turkey.
Trump also urged the countries to stop buying Russian oil.
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