(NEW YORK) — For the first time in his presidency, Donald Trump this week imposed new sanctions on Russia in an attempt to push Vladimir Putin to stop his nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

The sanctions target two of Russia’s largest oil companies and their subsidiaries, a move that analysts say is a significant blow to Putin but unlikely to immediately shift his military aims.

“These are tremendous sanctions. These are very big,” Trump said as he confirmed the levies in an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday.

When asked why he was taking this action now, after months of threats and delayed punitive action against Moscow, Trump said he “felt it was time.”

Trump’s U-turns on Russia-Ukraine diplomacy

The surprise sanctions announcement came after a diz

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