Whitaker Says Trump to Enforce Russia Oil Sanctions

President Donald Trump is moving forward with a sweeping new sanctions plan aimed at Russia, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Tuesday.

Whitaker told Bloomberg that the focus of the administration's plan is to cut off funding for Russia's war machine by targeting both Russian entities and third-party buyers of Russian resources.

He said the president wants to force Moscow back to the negotiating table rather than allow the war in Ukraine to drag on indefinitely.

The sanctions, announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week, will take aim at Rosneft and Lukoil — Russia's two largest oil companies — as well as their overseas subsidiaries, which Whitaker described as the "lifeline" of the Kremlin's military operations.

He pointed out that when Russia's export income is throttled, its ability to wage war is sharply curtailed.

The ambassador said that the U.S. is prepared to impose secondary sanctions on countries that keep trading in Russian energy despite Moscow's aggression toward Ukraine.

In his remarks, Whitaker noted that Trump remains "impatient" with Russian President Vladimir Putin's refusal to de-escalate or negotiate, saying the president believes he "holds all the cards" and will press them as needed.

He described the war in Ukraine as a "brutal trench war that nobody is winning," and said the sanctions strategy is designed to tilt the battlefield by increasing pressure on Russia while creating incentives for a ceasefire.

Whitaker emphasized that this is not just about cutting off funds, but about changing the dynamic of the long-running conflict.

He said that aligning the U.S. with its European allies, including through NATO coordination, is essential to the success of the sanctions, adding that Trump is counting on a united front to make the economic pain of Russia's actions broad and deep.

According to Whitaker, if European and allied nations enact complementary measures, the collective impact will force Moscow to reconsider its position.

While helping Ukraine remains a priority for the U.S., Whitaker stressed that the larger goal is to bring all parties to meaningful talks and stop the killing.

He remarked that the next phase of sanctions will send a clear message: Trading with Russia funds the war — and the world must make that untenable.

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