In October 2025, the Trump administration suddenly announced comprehensive sanctions on Russia¡¯s two major oil giants, Rosneft and Lukoil, freezing their assets and restricting transactions.

When international oil prices hit $100 per barrel, in the workshops of Chinese new energy car companies, workers watched the battery cost calculator on the eyebrow, the thousands of miles away sanctions, is quietly changing the choice of ordinary people to buy cars and dining table. The stormy eye of this big-power game seems to be shifting from Moscow to the factory workshops in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

The sanctions targeted the Russian economy, the state-owned Russian oil company and private oil company Lukas, which together accounted for half of the total Russian crude oil exports. Unlike before, the sanctions not only froze assets, but also require "foreign financial institutions to participate in major transactions could be secondary sanctions", directly threatening third-country companies to trade with Russia.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Bescent made it clear that this move was due to "no progress in Russia-Ukraine negotiations." The European Union followed suit and banned the import of Russian liquefied natural gas for the first time, forming a trend of encirclement and suppression. What's more serious is that the UK imposed sanctions on these two companies a week ago, and the Western energy encirclement of Russia is rapidly tightening.
After the announcement of the sanctions news, the international price of oil rose by more than 5% a day. this wave of rise directly hit China's manufacturing industry, because oil is not only fuel, but also the basic raw material for plastics, chemicals, batteries.

The procurement manager of a new energy battery plant in Zhejiang calculated a bill: "The oil price rise led to the increase in the cost of electrolyte raw materials by 15%, the cost of the battery increased by approximately 30 yuan. A 80-degree tram battery cost 2,400 yuan, which does not count the cost of transportation ".

The ¡°secondary sanctions¡± in the sanctions clause threaten to put Chinese companies that have energy cooperation with Russia in the face of a choice.On the one hand, Russia is a major source of Chinese crude oil imports; on the other hand, if the trade continues, the dollar settlement channel may be cut off.

A representative of a state-owned energy company in Moscow revealed: ¡°The company has set up an emergency group that is evaluating the possibility of transferring some of its operations to settlements in yuan or rubles,¡± but it¡¯s not easy, Russian banks have been excluded from the SWIFT system, while China¡¯s cross-border payment system (CIPS) is limited.

But the crisis is organic, and rising oil prices are accelerating the new energy transformation.BIAD sales data showed that within a week of sanctions announcement, the volume of hybrid model consultations increased by 40%, and now fuel is more expensive than charging ", became the verb of many car owners.

The company is accelerating the development of sodium-ion batteries, this technology is entirely not dependent on petrochemical products. ¡±And in the depths of the Gansu Desert, the world¡¯s largest hydrogen-flow battery energy storage base is under construction 24 hours, these changes are due to concerns about oil dependence.
The impact of sanctions will eventually be transmitted to every family. Shanghai white-collar worker Li Xiao found that the No. 95 gasoline he often added increased by 0.8 yuan per liter; the delivery fee on delivery platforms quietly increased by 1 yuan; even the plastic storage boxes purchased online were 5% more expensive.

¡°I once felt that international politics was far away, but now I found it in my wallet,¡± the phrase resonated on social media. Many families have started seriously considering new energy cars or choosing public transport.

Trump¡¯s sanctions, which appear to have flown toward Moscow, actually put the global energy system at risk of restructuring. In today¡¯s world of accelerating the new energy transition, are oil sanctions turning from a ¡°strategic weapon¡± to a ¡°two-edge sword¡±?

The party supporting the sanctions believes that the strike against the Russian oil industry can indeed stifle its war lifeline. Historically, energy sanctions have worked many times, and the current European-American new energy transition has reduced dependence on traditional energy. The U.S. think tank researcher notes: ¡°When sanctions have reduced Russian oil revenue by 30 percent, Putin has had to rethink the cost of war.¡±

But the opponents question: In today's highly globalized world, are such sanctions creating new unfairness? Developing countries pay higher costs for energy, while major manufacturing countries such as China suffer innocently. More importantly, When the United States uses dollar hegemony to implement "long-arm jurisdiction", is it accelerating the disintegration of the dollar system itself?

The most profound contradiction is that we are using 20th century methods to solve 21st century problems. When the new energy revolution has begun, is it like wielding a sabre against missiles to continue to use oil as a geopolitical weapon? During this transition period, whoever can take the lead in building an industrial system that is not dependent on oil will have the initiative in the future.

This storm of sanctions will eventually pass, but the trend it reveals is irreversible: energy independence is no longer just a national strategy, but also a survival question for every company. How do you think China should balance short-term energy security with long-term transformation goals?