US imposes sanctions on two Russian oil companies, calls on Moscow to immediately agree to ceasefire

US President Donald Trump has imposed major sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies after concluding his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was not being "honest and forthright" in Ukraine talks, the US Treasury chief said on Wednesday, i.e., October 22.

The sanctions come after a day a planned Trump-Putin summit in Budapest was shelved, with the States expressing its disappointment over the lack of progress in peace talks on the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine. "Given President Putin's refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia's two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin's war machine," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement as he announced the sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil.

He also stressed that the treasury was prepared to "take further action if necessary" to back Trump's peace efforts. Ahead of the official announcement, Bessent spoke to Fox Business, calling the move "one of the largest sanctions that we have done against the Russian Federation."