Donald Trump bangs his fist on the table. The American president appears increasingly irritated by the difficulties in convincing his Russian counterpart to initiate talks to end the conflict in Ukraine. “Every time I speak with Vladimir, we have good conversations, but then they go nowhere”lamented the Head of State this Wednesday, October 22.
After canceling the planned summit in Hungary, Donald Trump announced sanctions against Russian oil to force Moscow to sit at the negotiating table. In its target: the two largest Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, reports Le Figaro. “Today is a very important day regarding our sanctions”he asserted. “These are very heavy sanctions, massive sanctions on the two largest Russian oil companies, which are among the most important in the world”added the American president.
“I hope that Putin will become reasonable and I hope that Volodymyr Zelensky will be reasonable too”
Donald Trump also took the opportunity to send a message to Vladimir Putin. “I hope he will become reasonable and I hope Volodymyr Zelensky will be reasonable too”he pleaded. Before continuing: “You know, it takes two to tango and we’re going to see if it works. We hope that these sanctions will not last too long. »
The EU is also toughening its tone
The American Minister of Finance, Scott Bessent, also justified the new sanctions targeting Moscow. They are due to the fact that Vladimir Putin was not “neither frank nor honest at the negotiating table”he assured on Fox Business. For him, Russia demonstrates a “lack of serious desire to engage in a peace process in order to end the war in Ukraine”.
For its part, the European Union has also toughened its tone against Moscow. The Danish presidency of the European Union announced on Wednesday the conclusion of an agreement aimed at strengthening sanctions against Russian hydrocarbons. This 19th package of measures provides in particular for the total end of European imports of Russian liquefied natural gas by the end of 2026, a year earlier than planned.
