President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House October 22, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
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Alex Brandon/AP
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration announced new “massive sanctions” against Russia’s oil industry Wednesday, aimed at bringing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and ending Moscow’s brutal war against Ukraine.
The sanctions against oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil follow months of calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as bipartisan pressure on Trump to hit Russia with tougher sanctions on its oil industry, the economic engine that has allowed Russia to continue waging this bitter conflict even as it finds itself largely isolated internationally.
“I hope he becomes reasonable,” Trump said of Putin shortly after the Treasury Department announced the sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies and their subsidiaries. “And I hope Zelensky will be reasonable too. You know, it takes two to tango, as they say.”
The US administration announced the sanctions while NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington for talks with Trump. The military alliance coordinates arms deliveries to Ukraine, many of which were purchased from the United States by Canada and European countries.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the new sanctions were a direct response to Moscow’s refusal to end its “senseless war” and an attempt to stifle “the Kremlin’s war machine.”
Bessent added that the Treasury Department was prepared to take additional action if necessary to support Trump’s efforts to end the war. “We encourage our allies to join us and adhere to these sanctions.”
The announcement comes after Russian drones and missiles destroyed sites across Ukraine, killing at least six people, including a woman and her two young daughters.
The attack came in waves from Tuesday evening to Wednesday and targeted at least eight Ukrainian towns, as well as a village in the capital kyiv region, where a strike set fire to a house where the mother and her 6-month-old and 12-year-old daughters were staying, regional chief Mykola Kalashnyk said.
At least 29 people, including five children, were injured in kyiv, which appears to be the main target, authorities said.
Russian drones also struck a kindergarten in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, on Wednesday while children were in the building, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. One person was killed and six others were injured, but no children were physically injured, he said.
Rutte, during his appearance in the Oval Office, went out of his way to emphasize that the weapons the United States is selling to Europe to supply to Ukraine have been critical in helping stop many attacks like the one that ravaged the preschool.
“We need to make sure the air defense systems are in place, and we need the American systems to do that, and the Europeans are paying for that,” Rutte said. “This is exactly the type of action we needed, and the president is delivering it and doing everything possible to get this job done.”
Zelenskyy said many children were in shock. He said the attack targeted 10 separate regions: kyiv, Odessa, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy and Sumy.
Peace efforts stalled
Trump’s efforts to end the war that began with Russia’s all-out invasion of his neighbor more than three years ago have failed to gain traction. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with Putin’s refusal to deviate from his conditions for a settlement after Ukraine offered a ceasefire and direct peace talks.
Trump said Tuesday that his plans to meet quickly with Putin were on hold because he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.” European leaders have accused Putin of procrastinating.
Meanwhile, in what appears to be a public reminder of Russia’s atomic arsenals, Putin led exercises of the country’s strategic nuclear forces on Wednesday.
Zelensky urged the European Union, the United States and the Group of Seven industrialized countries to force Russia to the negotiating table. Pressure can only be exerted on Moscow “through sanctions, long-range (missile) capabilities and coordinated diplomacy between all our partners,” he said.
New international economic sanctions against Russia are expected to be discussed at the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. On Friday, a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing – a group of 35 countries that support Ukraine – is due to take place in London.
Zelensky attributed Trump’s remarks that he was considering supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine to Putin’s willingness to meet. The US president later said he was reluctant to tap the US offer of Tomahawks due to concerns over available stocks.
Russia has not made significant progress on the battlefield, where a war of attrition has taken a heavy toll on Russian infantry and Ukraine is short of manpower, military analysts say. Both sides have invested in long-range strike capabilities to hit backcourts.
In this photo provided by Ukrainian emergency services, rescuers evacuate children after Russian drones hit a city kindergarten in an attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.
AP/Ukrainian Emergency Service
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AP/Ukrainian Emergency Service
Ukraine says it hit key Russian chemical plant
Ukraine’s Army General Staff said its forces struck a chemical plant in Russia’s Bryansk region on Tuesday evening using British-made Storm Shadow aerial missiles. The factory is an important part of the Russian military and industrial complex, producing gunpowder, explosives, missile fuel and ammunition, the statement said.
Russian officials in the area confirmed an attack but did not mention the factory.
Ukraine also claimed nighttime strikes against the Saransk Mechanical Plant in Mordovia, Russia, which produces components for munitions and mines, and against the Makhachkala oil refinery in the Russian republic of Dagestan.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 33 Ukrainian drones over several regions overnight, including the area around St. Petersburg. Eight airports temporarily suspended flights due to the attacks.
Separately, Zelensky arrived in Oslo, Norway, on Wednesday and then flew to Stockholm, where he and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson signed a deal exploring the possibility of Ukraine purchasing up to 150 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets over the next decade or more. Ukraine has already received American-made F-16s and French Mirages.
Trump says Russia is on the agenda for upcoming talks with Xi
The US president is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week during their trip to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Beijing has not provided direct support to Russia in the war, but has increased sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technologies that Moscow in turn uses to produce missiles, tanks, planes and other weapons for its war against Ukraine, according to a U.S. assessment.
Trump said he believed the war between Russia and Ukraine would end if all NATO countries stopped buying Russian oil and imposed tariffs of 50 to 100 percent on China’s purchases of Russian oil.
“I think he could have a great influence on Putin,” Trump said of Xi Jinping.
Beijing has not yet confirmed that Trump and Xi will meet.
