US sanctions targeting Rosneft will not impact the Russian oil giant’s German subsidiaries, the German government told AFP Tuesday, downplaying fears their operations could be affected as they were not formally excluded.

Last week US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Rosneft and another Russian oil giant, Lukoil, complaining that talks with Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine war were going nowhere.

Rosneft’s German business operations — it still holds stakes in three German refineries that account for 12 percent of the country’s refining capacity — were not provided an exemption.

Berlin has placed the assets under state control and insists they are “decoupled” from their Russian parent company, but it has held off from a full nationalisation, instead seeking a buyer for the

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