Moscow [Putin], October 23 : Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday described the latest US sanctions as an "unfriendly move" that would not help relations between Moscow and Washington. He said the new restrictions would have little effect on Russia's economy, adding, "No self-respecting country ever does anything under pressure, " Russia Today reported.
Putin accused the United States of repeatedly using sanctions as a tool to exert pressure, saying such tactics would not succeed. He also hinted that "certain people in the US administration" had pushed for restrictions on Russian oil exports, questioning in whose interests they truly work for.
His remarks came a day after the United States imposed fresh sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, to increase pressure on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
Announcing the move, US President Donald Trump said, "Today is a very big day. Look, these are tremendous sanctions. These are very big. Those are against their two big oil companies... We hope that the war will be settled. We just answered questions related to the various forms of missiles and everything else we're examining. However, we don't think that will be necessary. We would like to see them just take the line that has been formed over quite a long period of time and go home," President Trump said during an interaction with journalists at the White House, while hosting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The statement comes shortly after the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on the Russian oil companies.
The move comes after months of stalled diplomacy and growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions.
The sanctions freeze all US-based assets of both companies and prohibit American citizens and entities from doing business with them. According to the US Treasury Department, the move aims to limit Russia's ability to fund its war operations and further weaken its economy, as per Russia Today.
Meanwhile, Putin also confirmed that the planned Russia-US summit in Budapest has been postponed. The meeting, initially proposed by the American side, was announced last week following a phone call between Trump and Putin.
He said it would have been a "mistake to approach the summit without proper preparations" but added that a meeting could still take place later. "Dialogue is always better than confrontation, arguments, and the continuation of war," Putin said.
The Russian leader also noted that Moscow and Washington "have many areas in which they could cooperate" if both sides moved away from pressure tactics and engaged in "serious conversations about the long term."
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