The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington is running out of options for new sanctions that could be imposed on Russia.
He made this statement after a meeting of foreign ministers of the G7 countries in Canada.
According to him, after the sanctions imposed against the largest Russian oil companies “Rosneft” and “Lukoil”, further US actions will be more about ensuring compliance with existing sanctions than introducing new ones.
"From our side, there are not many restrictions left for Russia... We have struck at their largest oil companies, which is what everyone has been demanding for so long. I donʼt know what else can be done. In this regard, we have almost exhausted the possibilities for new sanctions," Rubio noted.
At the same time, he added that the Europeans could increase pressure on the shadow fleet that the Kremlin uses to circumvent oil restrictions, "because a lot of this is happening in areas much closer to them".
Rubio called on European partners to be more actively involved in this process.
The US sanctions against “Lukoil” and “Rosneft”
On October 23, the United States imposed sanctions on “Rosneft” and “Lukoil", Russia’s two largest oil and gas companies. The sanctions targeted more than 30 units of both companies, including oil fields, gas plants, and refineries across the country.
In just two days, the shares of both companies have fallen, with Russiaʼs largest oil corporations losing a combined $5.2 billion. “Lukoil” shares fell 7.2%, resulting in a loss of $3.66 billion. “Rosneft” shares fell 3%, taking $1.56 billion with them.
“Rosneft” and “Lukoil” account for almost half of Russiaʼs daily oil production. For example, “Rosneft” generates approximately 17% of Russiaʼs budget revenues.
On November 10, Russian oil giant “Lukoil” declared force majeure at one of the worldʼs largest oil fields, West Qurna-2 in Iraq.
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