Trump's Reply To Putin's Criticism Of US Sanctions On Rosneft And Lukoil

After Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized US sanctions on Russian oil giants Rosneft, and Lukoil, US President Donald Trump said, he was glad he felt that way.

Dubbing the US sanctions as an "unfriendly move", Putin claimed it would not significantly impact Russian economy.

When asked about the Russian President criticizing the sanctions, Trump told journalists in the White House, "I am glad he feels that way. I'll let you know about it in six months from now. Let's see how it all works out."

Earlier, Putin had said, "This is, of course, an attempt to put pressure on Russia," Putin said. "But no self-respecting country and no self-respecting people ever decides anything under pressure."

Causing woes in the oil market, oil prices increased as traders are anxious about a squeeze on global supply.

Putin also commented on the cancellation of an anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump, saying that "dialogue is always better than confrontation."

Trump, in his latest about-face on the conflict, said on Wednesday that the planned Putin summit was off because it would not achieve the outcome he wanted and complained that his many "good conversations" with Putin did not "go anywhere".

Also Read: Ahead of Trump-Xi Meet, Nasdaq, S&P 500 Lead Wall Street Rebound

"We cancelled the meeting with President Putin - it just didn't feel right to me," Trump told reporters at the White House. "It didn't feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I cancelled it, but we'll do it in the future."

Putin said Trump most likely meant the summit had been postponed. The two leaders met in Alaska in August.

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the imposition of new sanctions was "appropriate and necessary" and reflected frustration over the slow progress on a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

"The president (Donald Trump) has always maintained that he would implement sanctions on Russia when he felt it was appropriate and necessary. And yesterday was that day. The president has also long expressed his frustration with Vladimir Putin (Russian President) and both sides of this war (Russia-Ukraine)", Leavitt said during a press briefing at the White House.

The sanctions imposed freeze all US-based assets of both companies and prohibit American citizens and entities from doing business with them. According to the US Treasury Department, the move aims to limit Russia's ability to fund its war operations and further weaken its economy, as per Russia Today.

The Russian leader also noted that Moscow and Washington "have many areas in which they could cooperate" if both sides moved away from pressure tactics and engaged in "serious conversations about the long term."