The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies as it called on Moscow to agree to an immediate ceasefire in the war with Ukraine.

Russian oil giant Lukoil is divesting its international operations following US sanctions imposed due to Moscow's actions in Ukraine. The sanctions, which freeze US assets and bar American firms from doing business with Lukoil and Rosneft,

The U.S. government has provided written assurances that the German business of Russia's Rosneft would be exempt from new energy sanctions because the assets are no longer under Russian control, Germany's economy minister said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is now believed to be more dug in than ever, according to a recent intelligence assessment.

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.

U.S. officials also told European counterparts that they support the EU using frozen Russian assets to buy U.S. weapons for Kyiv.

The price of a key Russian oil grade has plunged after Western sanctions prompted Chinese refiners to cancel some purchases.

Kyiv had hoped to secure long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from the U.S. to intensify its attacks on Russian oil targets. But U.S. President Donald Trump has not agreed to sell