WASHINGTON DC: The United States has announced a fresh round of sanctions targeting Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in a bid to increase pressure on Moscow to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

Following the announcement, President Donald Trump said his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin had so far yielded no progress.

“Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere,” Trump remarked after meeting NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to discuss peace efforts.

The decision to impose new sanctions came just a day after Trump revealed that a planned meeting with Putin in Budapest would be postponed indefinitely.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Russia launched a heavy bombardment on Ukraine, killing at least seven people, including children, according to early reports.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions were necessary due to “Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war.”

He added that the targeted oil companies were key financial supporters of the Kremlin’s “war machine.”