Media: US prepares new sanctions against Russia's energy sector if Putin rejects potential peace deal

The United States is said to be preparing a new round of sanctions targeting Russia's energy sector in the event that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin rejects a potential peace deal in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Sources told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity that the US is considering several options, including:

• targeting vessels belonging to the so-called shadow fleet of tankers Russia has used to transport its oil
• targeting traders who facilitate these operations.

The sources said the new measures could be announced as early as this week. They added that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had discussed these plans during a meeting with a group of European ambassadors earlier this week.

Nevertheless, the sources cautioned that the final decision rests with US President Donald Trump.

Discussions of further measures are taking place amid reports that US and Ukrainian negotiators have made some progress this week on the terms of a potential "peace plan".

US envoy Steve Witkoff was in Berlin, where he held two days of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on the latest proposals in the "peace plan".

Meanwhile, Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States, said that a bipartisan bill has been introduced in the US Senate providing for sanctions over the purchase of, or assistance in importing, Russian oil and petroleum products.

At the end of October, the United States imposed new large-scale sanctions on Russia for the first time since Trump re-entered office, citing Moscow's unwillingness to take the US president's peace efforts seriously.

Sanctions that came into force on 21 November targeted Russian energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil. Despite a delay in implementation, the measures have effectively put an end to Lukoil's international business.