The US sanctions send a clear signal, according to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyj.
It is really crucial for us. We have been waiting for it – with God's help it will help. We must put pressure on (Vladimir) Putin, says the Ukrainian president on his way to today's EU summit in Brussels.
On X he simultaneously thanks Trump for the sanctions, which according to Zelenskyj show Russia that the war has a price.
Moscow reacts indignantly. The Russian Foreign Ministry calls the sanctions "counterproductive" – but claims that the country is "immune".
Our country has developed a strong immunity to Western sanctions, says spokesperson Maria Zacharova.
"On the warpath”
At the same time, Dmitrij Medvedev, former president and now deputy head of Russia's Security Council, calls the sanctions a "war act against Russia”.
"The US is our opponent, and their talkative 'peace broker' (Trump) has now completely taken the warpath against Russia", he writes on Telegram.
From a Swedish perspective, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is cautiously positive.
It is very important and very long-awaited. There has been a bit back and forth with American sanctions, one can say. And now a step was taken yesterday that we would like to see realized. We have only seen them at headline level so far, he says in Brussels.
China, on the other hand, expresses dissatisfaction with the US decision, reports AFP. According to Beijing, the sanctions lack legal grounds.
"It was time”
Wednesday's sanctions announcement constitutes a complete turnaround from the US President. Trump has long abstained from new sanctions against Russia and instead hoped for a deal with Putin – but now he seems to have grown tired.
I just felt it was time. We have waited a long time, said Trump at the White House on Wednesday evening.
Analysts describe the sanctions as a blow to the financing of the Russian war machine. State-owned Russian Rosneft produces almost six percent of the world's crude oil and almost half of Russia's. Together with Lukoil, they export 3.1 million barrels of crude oil daily.
The US sanctions also affect a long list of subsidiaries of the two companies.
