The U.S. Treasury and the European Union (E.U.) have both announced sanctions on Russia, increasing the economic and political pressure on Moscow in hopes that it’ll push President Vladimir Putin toward establishing a cease-fire with Ukraine.

“I just felt it was time. We waited a long time. I thought that we’d go long before the Middle East,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, when asked about his Administration’s decision to elevate sanctions against Russia.

The U.S. levies target two major Russian oil companies, Open Joint Stock Company Rosneft Oil Co. and Lukoil OAO.

The “actions increase pressure on Russia’s energy sector and degrade the Kremlin’s ability to raise revenue for its war machine and support its weakened economy,” read a statemen

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