The reason for the sanctions was the "lack of serious commitment from Russia to a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine," the ministry noted.
Scott Bessant, the Secretary of the Treasury, emphasized: "Now is the time to end the violence and immediately declare a ceasefire. Due to President Putin's unwillingness to end this senseless war, we have decided to impose sanctions on the two largest oil companies that support the Kremlin's military actions."
According to the press release, the sanctions apply not only to "Rosneft" and "Lukoil," but also to their subsidiaries registered in Russia. As a result, 34 subsidiary structures were listed: 28 belong to "Rosneft," and 6 to "Lukoil."
As a result of these measures, all assets and property rights of the mentioned companies located in the United States or controlled by American citizens will be frozen, and OFAC should be notified about them, as specified in the statement.
Legal entities that are 50% or more owned by one or more of the blocked individuals have also been blocked. Civil and criminal consequences are provided for violations of these sanctions for both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals.
When asked why the sanctions were imposed at this moment, the U.S. President remarked: "I felt that the time had come. We have waited long enough," as reported by the BBC.
He characterized the scale of the sanctions as "significant."
When journalists asked why he believes these measures could convince Moscow to cease fire, Trump replied: "I don't know what will come of it. But I hope it will have an impact, as these are serious restrictions in the oil sector. I hope that Putin and Zelensky will find common ground because tango is danced by two."
The U.S. President added that if Putin agrees to stop military actions against Ukraine, the sanctions could be lifted quickly.
It should be noted that on October 15, the United Kingdom also imposed sanctions against "Lukoil" and "Rosneft."
