One person familiar with Friday’s discussion pointed out Surgutneftegas, Putin’s personal company, has not been targeted yet and predicted: “If their [Russia’s] entire oil sphere could be squeezed it would have some chance of bringing Putin to the table.”
A senior U.K. official separately added that the U.S. action had been “a really important new step” and it is “always more powerful when nations act together.”
The same person close to Friday’s talks said long-range missile capabilities must feature in European and U.S. efforts.
“Everyone saw how Putin reacted to the Tomahawks prospect,” they said. “But then Americans backed down from the idea and Putin swiftly turned away from diplomacy.”
Diplomatic drama
The U.S. president has seesawed back and forth in his willingness to listen to Zelenskyy and Putin, and European onlookers were nervous about his plan to meet the Russian leader in Hungary this week.
However, that meeting was canceled after a phone call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov went badly.
On Wednesday, the U.S. announced sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil companies, marking a shift in attitude from the White House.
Trump, who had previously said he would not introduce more sanctions unless European countries backed off Russian oil and gas, told reporters: “I just felt it was time.”
