{"id":532245,"date":"2025-10-28T01:16:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/532245\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T01:16:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:16:18","slug":"donald-trump-sanctions-win-as-russian-oil-giant-sells-off-vast-assets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/532245\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump Sanctions Win as Russian Oil Giant Sells Off Vast Assets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russian oil giant Lukoil said Monday it will sell off its international assets after new U.S. sanctions targeting Russia<\/a>\u2019s energy sector took effect, marking one of the most significant corporate moves since President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s latest measures against Moscow.<\/p>\n

Why It Matters<\/p>\n

The United States announced sanctions last week <\/a>on Lukoil and Rosneft, Russia\u2019s two largest private oil companies, in an effort to tighten financial pressure over the Kremlin\u2019s war in Ukraine. Britain followed with its own restrictions, targeting both companies and dozens of so-called shadow fleet tankers accused of helping Russia evade existing limits on oil exports.<\/p>\n

\"\"What To Know<\/p>\n

Lukoil, Russia\u2019s second-largest oil producer, said the divestment would be carried out under a wind-down license from the U.S. Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and that it may seek an extension \u201cto ensure uninterrupted operations.\u201d <\/p>\n

Newsweek has reached out to the Treasury Department via email on Monday afternoon for comment.<\/p>\n

Among its largest foreign holdings is a 75% stake in Iraq\u2019s West Qurna 2 oil field, one of the world\u2019s biggest, which produced more than 480,000 barrels per day earlier this year, according to Interfax. Lukoil also owns the Neftohim Burgas refinery in Bulgaria, the Balkans\u2019 largest, and Romania\u2019s Petrotel refinery. It supplies oil to Hungary, Slovakia, and Turkey\u2019s STAR refinery, which is heavily reliant on Russian crude.<\/p>\n

The sanctions come as Western governments escalate efforts<\/a> to choke off Moscow\u2019s energy revenue and weaken its ability to fund the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Lukoil, which produces about 2% of the world\u2019s oil, said it remains committed to maintaining \u201cstable operations\u201d during the transition.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged the United States to broaden its sanctions on Russian oil, calling for measures against the entire sector rather than just two companies. He also appealed for long-range missiles to strengthen Ukraine\u2019s ability to strike back against Russian forces.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Russia has tested a new nuclear-capable,<\/a> nuclear-powered cruise missile designed to evade existing defense systems and is moving closer to deploying it, President Vladimir Putin said Sunday. The announcement follows years of testing the Burevestnik missile and comes amid renewed nuclear signaling from the Kremlin, which has resisted Western pressure for a cease-fire in Ukraine and warned the U.S. and NATO against supporting long-range strikes inside Russia.<\/p>\n

Putin said he remains open to talks with Trump on a potential settlement in Ukraine but called new U.S. sanctions against Russia\u2019s top oil companies an \u201cunfriendly act\u201d that would harm relations. <\/a>He warned that Moscow \u201cwill not be intimidated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an attempt to exert pressure on Russia, but no self-respecting country and self-respecting people make any decisions under pressure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What People Are Saying<\/p>\n

Zelensky said Friday that the oil sanctions were \u201ca big step,\u201d <\/strong>and said \u201cwe have to apply pressure not only to Rosneft and Lukoil, but to all Russian oil companies.\u201d: \u201cBesides, we are carrying out our own campaign of pressure with drones and missiles specifically targeting the Russian oil sector.”<\/p>\n

Russian broadcaster Vladimir Solovyov said on his radio show last week after the sanctions were announced:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe Trump we knew temporarily has evaporated.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cTrump violated the spirit of Anchorage. \u2026 Disrespect was demonstrated toward our president.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s security council and a former president, said last week in a post on the messaging app Telegram: <\/strong>“If any of the many commentators still harbored illusions \u2014 here you go. The U.S. is our enemy, and their talkative ‘peacemaker’ has now fully taken the road to war with Russia.”<\/p>\n

What Happens Next<\/p>\n

Lukoil said it has begun reviewing bids from potential buyers but did not specify which assets are up for sale.<\/p>\n

Updates: 10\/27\/25, 7:46 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russian oil giant Lukoil said Monday it will sell off its international assets after new U.S. sanctions targeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[1500,32,2661,332,7661,2663,51929,333],"class_list":{"0":"post-532245","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-oil","11":"tag-russia","12":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","13":"tag-sanctions","14":"tag-treasury-department","15":"tag-vladimir-putin"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115449154390968095","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}