United States President Donald Trump has imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil companies.
They are the first such measures of his second term and the clearest sign yet that the administration has lost patience with the lack of progress towards a ceasefire with Ukraine.
"Today is a very big day in terms of what we're doing. Look, these are tremendous sanctions. These are very big. Those are against their two big oil companies. And we hope that they won't be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled."
The US President also confirmed he has cancelled his planned Budapest meeting with President Putin, for now.
"It just, it didn't feel right to me. It didn't 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."
The sanctions aim to freeze US-controlled Russian assets, prevent US entities from most dealings with Russia, and are designed to complicate sales and shipping of Russian crude oil and fuels, a direct strike at revenue that Russia's war machine depends on.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says Mr Trump's aim is simple - to stop the killing and force a path to talks.
"He feels they are not at a place yet where a meeting would be successful. So, and clearly he was stating this weekend, I want to work to end, I want a ceasefire. I want the killing to stop. So his position here - and I completely support this - as he said, stop where you are. So as both to the Ukrainians as well to the Russians."
Meanwhile in Brussels, the European Union has adopted its 19th package of sanctions, for the first time phasing in a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
It is also placing tighter financial and shipping controls to curb Russia’s shadow fleet, a network of hundreds of aging tankers, often with obscured ownership and insurance, that operates outside of Western sanctions to transport Russian oil.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, says the objective is to drain Russia's war chest.
"We are going to adopt the 19th package of sanctions, which has a lot of important points there regarding energy, regarding financial institutions. It is all meant to deprive Russia from the means to fund this war. ... The fundamental message is that Russia is responsible for the damages caused in Ukraine and has to pay for those damages. And the frozen assets we have - the reparations loan on the basis of that for Ukraine to defend itself."
From Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the moves from both the U-S and E-U were crucial and overdue.
"This decision of the 19th package of sanctions is crucial for us. Thank you so much. And today it goes together with yesterday's decisions of (US) President (Donald) Trump on energy, also a sanctions package. We waited for this. God bless, it will work. And this is very important."
In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin labelled the U-S measures an unfriendly act, arguing they won’t seriously dent Russia’s economy but could spike global fuel prices if Russian exports are squeezed.
"This is an unfriendly act towards Russia. It's obvious. It doesn't help strengthen Russian-American relations which have only just begun to recover. Such action by the US administration certainly damages Russia-US relations. ... A sharp reduction in the amounts of our oil and oil products sent to global markets will lead to price increases. We have discussed it with my American colleagues. What will it lead to? It will lead to a sharp increase in the price of oil and petroleum products, including at gas stations, and the United States is no exception."
But ordinary Russians, like Sergei, are unconvinced anything has really changed, with some residents calling President Trump erratic, suggesting he could just as easily change his mind.
"Trump is an unpredictable person, so it’s impossible to know what will happen tomorrow. He might wake up and decide to lift sanctions. Trump is completely erratic, and it’s hard to comment. Every day brings new news, so we need to take it normally and philosophically."
Others, like Yevgeny, believe the U-S and Russian leaders are toying with one another.
"He met with Putin, hugged him and walked with him on red carpet and then he said that he would give Tomahawks, and a day later he said he wouldn't give them. A political game is going on."
