"Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "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.

The US is imposing sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, aiming to “degrade” Vladimir Putin’s war chest and support Donald Trump’s effort to end the war in Ukraine. The move marks the first time the Trump administration has imposed direct costs on Moscow over its full-scale invasion.

Oil prices surged around 5% to a two-week high on Thursday after the U.S. imposed sanctions on major Russian suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil over Russia's war in Ukraine. The sanctions could reduce global oil supplies since Russia was the world's second-biggest crude producer in 2024 after the U.

Russia's top economic negotiator, Kirill Dmitriev, arrives in the US for talks after Washington sanctioned Russia's two largest oil producers.

The restrictions placed this week on Rosneft and Lukoil, which account for about half of Russia’s daily oil production of 9.5mn barrels a day, are the most significant blow delivered by Donald Trump’s administration against an industry that is the economic driver of Vladimir Putin’s regime.

A parallel market for the oil of sanctioned countries will adjust to the latest U.S. restrictions.

Oil prices jumped around 2.5% on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session, as supply concerns resurfaced after the United States imposed sanctions on major Russian oil suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil over the Ukraine war.

Trump “is seriously breaking the ice with these measures,” former Russian deputy energy minister Vladimir Milov told Newsweek.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he’s optimistic that the US will exempt Rosneft PJSC’s German unit from Washington’s latest sanctions against Russia.