The United States has prepared additional sanctions that could be imposed on key sectors of the Russian economy if Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin continues to stall on ending the war. Details: US officials have told their European counterparts that they support the European Union using frozen Russian assets to purchase American weapons for Ukraine.

President Trump announced sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft, Russia’s two largest oil companies, while restrictions by the European Union included a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was delighted to learn last week that Russia and the United States had chosen his country as the venue for another summit on ending the war in Ukraine.

Days after canceling a planned summit with Putin, citing a lack of progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, Trump took a major step by effectively blacklisting Rosneft and Lukoil.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the United States to expand sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies to the whole sector.

The European Union on Thursday formally adopted sweeping sanctions targeting Russia's energy sector, a day after the United States announced punitive measures against the Kremlin's oil industry.

Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin special envoy, is reported to have arrived in the United States for "official" talks following the imposition of sanctions on Russia's oil sector and the cancellation of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Hungary.

The United States announced sanctions against Russian oil companies on Wednesday (local time) as a result of "Russia's lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine". The sanctions were announced by United States President Donald Trump as his frustration with Russia mounts for not stopping the war in Ukraine,