'I thought that was going to be an easy one.' Trump on Ukraine war settlement and ties with Putin
Photo: Donald Trump (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump stated that the war between Ukraine and Russia will inevitably be settled. According to him, it is the only conflict that has not yet been resolved, even though he had considered it the easiest due to his relationship with Putin.
"We did that eight times (settled conflicts - ed.). The only one I didn't do is Russia and Ukraine," he said.
Trump emphasized that it will certainly be resolved and that the war will come to an end.
"I thought that was going to be an easy one because of my relationship with President Putin. It turned out to be a little different, but I think it'll get done," Trump noted.
Sanctions against Russia
On October 23, US President Donald Trump imposed tough sanctions on Russian energy giants. The restrictions targeted Lukoil, Rosneft, and their subsidiaries.
The sanctions prohibit transactions with the sanctioned companies and all their subsidiaries.
Later, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he expected an exemption from the new US sanctions for Rosneft, referring to the company's operations in Germany under German government management. Subsequently, the US did exempt Rosneft’s German subsidiary from the sanctions.
It is worth noting that Lukoil shares dropped 7.2% on the Moscow Exchange in just two days, equaling a loss of approximately $3.66 billion.
Bloomberg reports that the sanctions could seriously impact Russian oil exports. In particular, shipments to India, which surged after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, could soon drop nearly to zero.
Meanwhile, Reuters sources reported that the US restrictions have forced Chinese state-owned oil companies to temporarily halt purchases of Russian oil, at least in the short term.
