Putin adviser says Trump chose ‘path of war’ with oil sanctions
Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, said Thursday the country would no longer have to worry about “meaningless” peace negotiations with President Trump, a day after the Treasury Department announced sanctions against two Russian oil companies.
“The USA is our adversary, and their talkative ‘peacemaker’ has now fully taken the path of war against Russia…,” Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, wrote in a Telegram post.
“Of course, people will say that he could not do otherwise, that he was pressured in Congress, etc. This does not change the main point: the decisions made are an act of war against Russia. And now Trump has fully aligned himself with a mad Europe,” he added.
Trump recently canceled a proposed face-to-face meting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, alleging that the timing did not “feel right” to him. The two met in August during an Alaska summit that spurred hope for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
However, the Kremlin has steadily increased the lethality of its strikes, with frequent blows to neighborhoods and Ukraine’s energy structures.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff have led ceasefire negotiations for months, but little headway has been made.
“We would like to see them just take the line that has been formed over quite a long period of time and just go home,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
However, in lieu of successful peace talks, sanctions were placed on Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Open Joint Stock Company Rosneft Oil Co. (Rosneft) and Lukoil OAO (Lukoil).
“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Wednesday statement.
“Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” Bessent said.
“Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions.”
Amid the decision, Medvedev says the Kremlin will focus on achieving “victory precisely where it is possible.”
“On the ground, not at an office desk. Destroying enemies, not making meaningless ‘deals.'”