(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump’s additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil could be just the first shot he aims at Moscow’s energy revenues ahead of a Friday deadline, as the US weighs options to get President Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine.
In addition to punishing buyers of Russian energy with tariffs, the Trump administration is considering new sanctions on Moscow’s covert fleet of oil tankers and several entities that enable them to operate, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke before the administration posted the executive order on India tariffs to social media.
Earlier Wednesday, Putin concluded a three-hour meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin as Russia worked to avert the ongoing penalties. The Russian leader exchanged “signals” with Trump on Ukraine at the meeting with the envoy, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, without elaborating.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there would be an announcement on Russia fairly soon — with more discussions happening throughout the day — after he was briefed by Witkoff on the phone following the Putin meeting, a CNN reporter said on X.
West Texas Intermediate swung between gains and losses to trade near $65 a barrel after Rubio’s reported comment. Oil fluctuated in choppy trading as traders await news on whether Trump will take further action to choke Russian energy flows.
Trump spoke with Ukraine President Volodymr Zelenskiy on Wednesday, according to a report by Axios. The outlet also said the US still expected to implement secondary sanctions on Friday despite the Witkoff-Putin conversation going well, citing a White House official.
The Russian vessels have become instrumental to its ability to move its oil despite US and European sanctions.
“The shadow tanker fleet is the backbone of Russia’s sanctions evasion and war financing,” Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said on the X platform.
The Financial Times first reported the potential measures on Russia’s shadow fleet.
The people said the Trump administration is considering a range of options to restrict Putin’s energy revenues. Other possibilities could include measures targeting oil companies and actions to better enforce existing restrictions.
–With assistance from Catherine Lucey and Gregory White.
(Updates with Rubio comment, other details in fourth through sixth paragraphs.)
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Trump, tariffs, Russian oil, sanctions, Ukraine
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