Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggests US has exhausted its options against the Kremlin, but a leading analyst tells Kyiv Post the administration still holds significant untapped economic weapons.

WASHINGTON DC – The US sanctions machine, once touted as a virtually limitless tool of economic coercion against the Kremlin, may be hitting a wall – or at least that’s the message coming from the top.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio signaled frustration on Wednesday, telling Kyiv Post’s correspondent that the US is nearly “out of options” after slamming Russia’s biggest oil giants, Rosneft and Lukoil, last month.

Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers, Rubio lamented: “There’s not a lot left to sanction from our part. I mean, we hit their major oil companies, which is what everybody’s been asking for.”

Sanctions on Rosneft, Lukoil and their web of subsidiaries formally kick in next week, though the carveouts are already piling up.

The measures, which target the primary funding source for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, have already triggered a stream of exemptions – a clear crack in the unified economic front even before the rules fully take hold. Hungary secured a one-year reprieve; others are hinting they’ll ask next.

Rubio argued that the priority now is enforcement – and he pointed squarely at Europe when it comes to cracking down on the Kremlin’s shadow fleet. The EU has sanctioned hundreds of Russia-linked tankers operating in murky waters, ferrying discounted crude to buyers from India to the Gulf.

But that framing – that policing the ghost armada is Europe’s job – doesn’t hold up, according to one of Washington’s leading sanctions analysts.

Rubio’s apparent exhaustion with the sanctions pipeline is sharply contested by sanctions analysts, who see plenty of road left.