US President Donald Trump said he is not going "to be wasting my time" by meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin if the Kremlin leader is not ready to make a deal to end his war on Ukraine.
"You have to know that we're going to make a deal. I'm not going to be wasting my time," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on October 25 during a stop in Doha en route to Asia.
"I've always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing. I thought this would have gotten done before peace in the Middle East," he added.
Meanwhile, Reuters quoted a US official and another person familiar with the matter as saying Trump's administration has prepared an additional series of sanctions against Russia's economy that could be imposed if Putin refuses to reach a peace deal.
However, Reuters quoted an unidentified senior US official as saying Trump would prefer to have European nations make the next big move against the Kremlin - either in the form of additional sanctions or tariffs.
The United States sent shockwaves across global energy markets on October 22 when it said it was sanctioning state-controlled Rosneft and privately owned LUKoil -- Russia's two largest oil companies, whose exports go a long way toward filling the Kremlin's coffers used to fund the war.
"These are very big -- against their two big oil companies," Trump said at the White House, describing the sanctions as "tremendous."
A day later, the European Union targeted Rosneft and Gazpromneft, another major oil company that is a subsidiary of state-controlled gas giant Gazprom.
Maria Shagina, a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Berlin, said the sanctions were the first significant measures taken by the Trump administration against Moscow and reflect frustration with "Russia's stalling tactics" in efforts to end the Ukraine fighting.
Observers are watching closely to gauge reactions by India and China -- the two biggest buyers of Russian oil exports. China is one of Moscow's top allies and trading partners, sourcing much of its Russian energy via Siberian pipelines.