The UK has announced sweeping new sanctions aimed at weakening Russia’s energy revenues. They target the country’s largest oil producers, state-owned tankers and foreign partners who help Russian crude oil continue to reach global markets.
The sanctions package, unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves before meetings with international financial leaders in Washington, DC, includes 90 new measures and represents one of Britain’s most aggressive efforts yet to crush Vladimir Putin’s war economy.
“We are sending a clear signal: Russian oil is off the market,” Reeves said, promising to “significantly increase the pressure on Russia and Vladimir Putin’s war effort.”
The sanctions hit Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil producers, which together export about 3.1 million barrels of oil per day – about 6% of global supply, the Finance Ministry said.
Rosneft, the larger of the two, accounts for almost half of Russia’s total oil production and is a major source of foreign currency for Moscow.
The UK is also blacklisting 44 tankers linked to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” – ships used to transport oil under opaque ownership structures to circumvent existing Western sanctions.
Reeves said the move was designed to “destroy the Russian government’s ability to continue this illegal war in Ukraine.”
In a significant expansion of Britain’s sanctions regime, the list also includes companies based in India and China accused of helping funnel Russian crude into global markets.
They include Nayara Energy Limited, one of India’s largest private refiners and partly owned by Rosneft. The British government said the company imported 100 million barrels of Russian oil in 2024 alone, worth more than $5 billion (£3.75 billion).
“We are increasing pressure on companies in third countries, including India and China, that continue to help bring Russian oil to global markets,” Reeves said.
Beijing and Delhi have become major destinations for Russian oil exports since Western nations introduced a price cap at the G7 summit and banned imports of Russian crude by sea in 2022.
Reeves made the announcement alongside Secretary of State Yvette Cooper on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting, where discussions with G7 counterparts focused on tightening sanctions and exploring ways to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
“Today’s action is another step towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and a safer United Kingdom,” Cooper said.
The G7 is expected to debate next week a proposal to confiscate profits from hundreds of billions of frozen Russian investments, much of which is held in cash at the European Central Bank. The EU, which has long hesitated over possible legal implications, is expected to develop a mechanism to redirect these funds to Ukraine.
Earlier this year, the UK, along with the US, imposed sanctions on Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, extending restrictions to almost all major Russian energy producers. At the time, then-Foreign Minister David Lammy said the measures would “exhaust Russia’s war chests – and every ruble we take out of Putin’s hands helps save Ukrainian lives.”
The latest round increases pressure not only on Moscow, but also on countries that continue to buy discounted Russian crude.
In Washington, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that the White House was considering tariffs of up to 500% on Chinese goods linked to Russian oil purchases – but added that the US would only act “if our European partners join us”.
“We will respond if our European partners join us,” Bessent told reporters on Wednesday.
The UK’s sanctions come as the IMF warns of a slowdown in global growth and increasing geopolitical fragmentation – with the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza conflict and US-China trade tensions weighing on economic stability.
