During his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump added: “I’ve waited a long time… Look, these are immense sanctions, and they target their two largest oil companies, and we hope they won’t last long.” The US Treasury Department had earlier announced sanctions on “Lukoil” and “Rosneft” and several of their subsidiaries, due to what it described as “Moscow’s failure to end the conflict in Ukraine.” It is worth noting that last Thursday, this was the eighth meeting between them since the beginning of the second term of the US president. Trump admitted that the sanctions against Russia cost the United States billions of dollars. He also confirmed that he is delaying the imposition of new restrictions in hopes of reaching a settlement agreement in Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is facing the pressure of sanctions, while the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of its anti-Russia policy, whereas the Western countries themselves have acknowledged that the sanctions are ineffective.
