Trump’s Sanctioning Russian Energy. Here’s What To Know.

The United States placed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies on Wednesday after plans for an expected meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin fell through.

The sanctions, the first the Trump administration has leveled against Russia since taking over the White House in January, are a signal that the president has run short on patience with Moscow. Trump has called for the battle lines to be frozen in Ukraine and for the two sides to meet for peace talks.

The sanctions target Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil and dozens of their subsidiaries, but will likely have little direct impact on the money that flows into Russia’s treasury from its substantial energy industry. While the United States did billions of dollars worth of trade with Russia last year, the majority of that was for fertilizer, precious metals, uranium, and plutonium.

The sanctions package is a signal to other countries purchasing Russian oil and natural gas that the Trump administration may soon crack down on buyers, as well.

“[E]ngaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions,” the announcement from the Treasury Department states. “[The Treasury] can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining, in the United States, a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant transaction on behalf of a person who is designated pursuant to the relevant authority.”

China remains one of Moscow’s largest buyers for energy, though India, another major purchaser of Russian oil, has already promised to cut back its reliance on Russian energy.

The European Union joined the United States with a sanctions package targeting Russian energy, as well, including Rosneft. The E.U. sanctions package may bring more direct pain to Moscow’s coffers because of the increased reliance of Europe on Russian oil and natural gas exports.

“Appreciated this evening’s call with [Bessent] and the Treasury decision to sanction major Russian oil companies in the face of Russia’s lack of commitment to the peace process,” said E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a post on X. “With the imminent adoption of the EU’s 19th package, this is a clear signal from both sides of the Atlantic that we will keep up collective pressure on the aggressor.”

The United Kingdom approved a similar sanctions package on Russian energy last week in what has become a wave of financial penalties targeting Russia’s most important export industry.