“There was no sense that we could achieve what we needed to achieve,” he explained on Wednesday. According to Trump, Putin continues to make maximalist demands on Ukraine. “We don’t want him to own everything,” Trump said.

The new US sanctions – the first since Trump took office – target Russia’s two largest oil companies, which account for two-thirds of the country’s oil production. The result is a threat to Russian oil supplies to India, the Kremlin’s second-largest export market after China. According to Bloomberg and Reuters, Indian refiners are preparing to drastically reduce imports from Russia due to the US restrictions.

It has already been reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant announced on Wednesday the imposition of US sanctions on two of Russia's largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, citing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's"refusal to end this senseless war" in Ukraine.

He warned that the Treasury Department was ready for “further action, if necessary” to support Trump’s efforts to end the war.

Speaking to Fox Business ahead of the official announcement, Besant said these are"one of the largest sanctions we have ever imposed on the Russian Federation."

The European Union (EU) also announced new sanctions against Russia on Wednesday. The 19th round of sanctions that Russia has been subject to since its repeated invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, includes a ban on the import of liquefied gas from Russia until 2027, the blacklisting of even more Russian “shadow fleet” tankers, and restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats in Europe.