The White House repeated its claim that India has scaled back on its oil purchase from Russia at the “request of President Donald Trump,” even as New Delhi maintained that the imports are being made in the national interest and to ensure the energy security of the citizens.
During Thursday’s briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “increasingly frustrated” with stalled peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine. However, she voiced renewed confidence in the sweeping sanctions targeting Russia’s biggest oil producers, and reiterated claims that key nations are starting to cut back on Russian oil imports.
“If you read the sanctions and look at them, they are pretty hefty. I saw some international news this morning that China is scaling back oil purchases from Russia. We know India has done the same at the President’s request,” Leavitt said.
“President has also pushed European countries, our allies, to please stop their purchases of Russian oil as well,” she added.
#WATCH | Washington, DC | On US sanctions against two Russian oil companies, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, “If you read the sanctions and look at them, they’re pretty hefty. I saw some international news out of China this morning that they’re scaling back oil… pic.twitter.com/EFi54QyUuu
— ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2025
Leavitt’s remarks came shortly after Washington imposed news sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil giants, Rosneft and Lukoil, in a move intended to further choke the Kremlin’s energy revenue.
“It is a full court press for sure, and we expect that these sanctions are going to do harm, as the Secretary of the Treasury said yesterday,” Leavitt said.
Trump Annoyed By Putin’s Inaction In Peace Talks
The press secretary further spoke about Trump’s annoyance extends directly to Russian leader Vladimir Putin for failing to show “enough interest or action” in advancing toward a peace agreement. That irritation was magnified when a planned summit between the two leaders was postponed indefinitely after Russia rebuffed the latest US ceasefire proposal.
Leavitt explained the president’s evolving stance on sanctions: “The president has always maintained that he would implement sanctions on Russia when he felt it was appropriate and necessary. Yesterday was that day. The president has also long expressed his frustration with Vladimir Putin and both sides of this war (Russia-Ukraine),” she said.
“He’s always said that to negotiate a good peace deal, both sides need to be interested in it. He feels, unfortunately, that on the Russian side, as of late, he has not seen enough interest or action in moving the ball forward towards peace,” Leavitt added.
However, she also added that the door for Trump-Putin dialogue hasn’t closed. “A meeting between these two leaders (Trump-Putin) is not completely off the table. The president and the entire administration hope that it can happen again one day. But we want to make sure that there’s a tangible positive outcome out of that meeting and that it’s a good use of the president’s time,” Leavitt remarked.
She also stressed Trump’s demand for concrete results: “The president wants to make sure that a meeting between himself and President Putin will be a good use of his time… The president wants to see action, not just talk. The president is extremely motivated by the success of his Middle East peace deal to get things done. And he wants this war to end. He’s been saying it for nine months now, since being in office. And he’s grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress,” Leavitt told reporters.
Putin Slams ‘Unfriendly Move”
Meanwhile, Putin hit back at the US for imposing oil sanctions, accusing Washington of weaponising tariffs as a means of coercion. He cast doubt on the intentions behind these moves, quipping that “certain people in the US administration” pushed for the latest crackdown on Russian energy exports and questioning whose interests they were serving.
Putin branded the sanctions “an unfriendly move” that could further erode ties between Moscow and Washington. The Russian leader downplayed the potential impact on his country’s economic health, telling reporters, “No self-respecting country ever does anything under pressure,” as reported by Russia Today.
