Trump says his conversations with Putin “don't go anywhere”

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his conversations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine war are "good" but ultimately "don't go anywhere."

"Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don't go anywhere," Trump told journalists at the White House, sitting alongside NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Ahead of a meeting scheduled between the US and Chinese leaders in South Korea, Trump added that Xi Jinping could have a "big influence" on Putin.

"I think he can have a big influence on Putin... Look, he's a respected man. He's a very strong leader, very big country. Yeah, I think it can have a big influence. And we will certainly be talking about Russia, Ukraine," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump slapped sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies.

The EU also unveiled a fresh wave of sanctions to pressure Russia.

Trump has held off pulling the trigger on sanctions against Russia for months, but his patience snapped after plans for a fresh summit with Putin in Budapest collapsed.

But he added that he hoped the "tremendous sanctions" against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil would be short-lived.

"We hope that the war will be settled," he said alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Separately, the European Union agreed to impose new measures aimed at crimping Moscow's oil and gas revenues over the war, a spokesperson for the EU's current Danish presidency said.

That package -- the 19th from the EU since 2022 -- sought to keep the pressure on Russia in light of Trump's faltering peace push and an escalation of Russia's offensive.

The sanctions came hours after Russia's latest overnight barrage on Ukraine killed seven people -- including two children -- and ripped into a kindergarten.