Will see in 6 months how it works out: Trump's response to Putin's criticism of sanctions on Russian oil companies

Washington DC [US], October 24 : US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin's criticism of sanctions on Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil.

When asked about the Russian President criticising the sanctions, President Trump told presspersons in the White House, "I am glad he feels that way. I'll let you know about it in six months from now. Let's see how it all works out."

This comes after Putin called the sanctions an "unfriendly move" that won't significantly impact Russia's economy.

Putin shrugged off the potential impact of US sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, saying they would not have much effect on the Russian economy.

"This is, of course, an attempt to put pressure on Russia," Putin said. "But no self-respecting country and no self-respecting people ever decides anything under pressure."

Oil prices rose sharply as traders are anxious about a squeeze on global supply. Putin also commented on the cancellation of an anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump, saying that "dialogue is always better than confrontation."

Trump, in his latest about-face on the conflict, said on Wednesday that the planned Putin summit was off because it would not achieve the outcome he wanted and complained that his many "good conversations" with Putin did not "go anywhere".

"We cancelled the meeting with President Putin - it just didn't feel right to me," Trump told reporters at the White House. "It didn't feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I cancelled it, but we'll do it in the future."

Putin said Trump most likely meant the summit had been postponed. The two leaders met in Alaska in August.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. Shortly after the restrictions were imposed, Moscow called them an "unfriendly move" that would not improve relations with Washington. President Vladimir Putin said that the new restrictions would have little effect on Russia's economy, adding, "No self-respecting country ever does anything under pressure," according to Russia Today.

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the imposition of new sanctions was "appropriate and necessary" and reflected frustration over the slow progress on a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

"The president (Donald Trump) has always maintained that he would implement sanctions on Russia when he felt it was appropriate and necessary. And yesterday was that day. The president has also long expressed his frustration with Vladimir Putin (Russian President) and both sides of this war (Russia-Ukraine)", Leavitt said during a press briefing at the White House.

Criticising the lack of "interest or action" from the Russian side to move towards peace, Leavitt said that while a potential meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Trump is "not completely off the table" the US would rather have a tangible positive outcome from a meeting.

Expressing the desire of President Trump to see action, not just talk, to move towards peace, Leavitt added that the US wants to ensure the now-postponed meeting between the two leaders is a good use of Trump's time.

"The president wants to make sure that a meeting between himself and President Putin will be a good use of his time... The president wants to see action, not just talk. The president is extremely motivated by the success of his Middle East peace deal to get things done. And he wants this war to end. He's been saying it for 9 months now, since taking office. And he's grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress," the White House Press Secy said.

Putin has 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 the leaders.

Meanwhile, Putin has accused the United States of repeatedly using sanctions to exert pressure, saying such tactics would fail. He also hinted that "certain people in the US administration" had pushed for restrictions on Russian oil exports, questioning whose interests they truly work for.

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.

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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