'Act of war': How Russia reacted to Trump's sanction fury; accuses US of ‘abandoning diplomacy’

Russia has reacted furiously to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new sanctions on its oil sector, with former President Dmitry Medvedev calling the move “an act of war” and accusing Washington of abandoning diplomacy.

In a post on Telegram, Medvedev denounced Trump’s decision to sanction Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, and to cancel a planned summit with Vladimir Putin in Budapest. “The United States is our adversary,” he wrote, “and their talkative ‘peacemaker’ has now fully embarked on the warpath against Russia.”

Also read | More sanctions for Russia! After US, EU announces penalties for Russian oil


Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, described the measures as proof that Trump had “fully aligned himself with insane Europe” and declared that the decisions “are an act of war against Russia.” He added that Trump’s choices revealed the United States was no longer merely supporting Kyiv, but had made the conflict “his war now, not the senile Biden’s.”

The outburst followed Washington’s announcement of what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as “massive sanctions” on Russia’s energy sector, aimed at choking off funding for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “We will continue to take necessary actions to degrade the Kremlin’s war machine,” Bessent said, urging allies to adopt similar measures.

Also read | Trump sanctions to hit India’s crude imports; ‘all but impossible for flows to continue'Trump, meanwhile, expressed hope that the sanctions would push Putin to negotiate. “Hopefully he’ll become reasonable,” the president said, adding, “It takes two to tango, as they say.”

Oil and diplomacy collide

The sanctions mark the first time the Trump administration has directly targeted Russia’s main oil companies, after months of appeals from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and pressure from Congress. They coincide with fresh Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine that left at least six dead, including a mother and her two children.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who met Trump in Washington shortly before the sanctions were unveiled, welcomed the move, saying, “It is exactly the type of action we needed.”

For Moscow, however, the measures have triggered an escalation in rhetoric. Medvedev mocked Trump’s oscillating approach toward Russia and Ukraine, saying it was another swing of the “Trump pendulum” that now allows him “to pound all of Bandera’s hiding places with a variety of weapons.” He accused the US of destroying rather than negotiating, declaring that Washington had chosen to “destroy enemies, not make meaningless deals.”

The sanctions also come after a week of uncertainty in Trump’s foreign policy. Plans for a Trump-Putin summit in Budapest collapsed after the Kremlin refused to alter its stance on Ukraine, while the White House confirmed there were “no plans” for immediate talks.

Cold War language returns

This latest confrontation follows months of personal barbs between Trump and Medvedev. After Trump called him the “failed former President of Russia,” Medvedev mocked Trump’s “jittery reaction,” and revived references to Russia’s Cold War-era “Dead Hand” nuclear system — a veiled reminder of Moscow’s atomic capabilities.
Also read | ‘Strong immunity to Western restrictions’: Russia hits out as Trump sanctions its oil firmsTrump responded by ordering two US nuclear submarines to “appropriate regions,” calling Medvedev’s remarks “highly provocative” and warning of “unintended consequences.”


Get an chance to win ₹5000 Amazon Voucher by taking part in India's Biggest Habit Index! Take the survey here