Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing back at the latest round of U.S. sanctions, warning that Russia may prohibit the involvement of U.S. and European Union companies in energy and other industries.
If the United States and its allies impose more sanctions, Putin said, Russia may take action against U.S. and EU companies, Bloomberg reports.
{mosads}If sanctions continue “then of course we will have to consider who’s working and how in the Russian Federation, in the key sectors of the Russian economy, including energy,” Putin said. “We really don’t want to take these reciprocal steps.”
Putin’s comments may create uncertainty for companies that have a stake in Russian energy. Those companies include Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil.
On Wednesday, Shell said it will not be entering into new investments in Russia at any point in the near future given the escalates tensions in Ukraine, the Associated Press reports.
“I don’t think we’ll be jumping into new investments (in Russia) anytime soon,” said Simon Henry, Shell’s chief financial officer.
As for ExxonMobil, it is working on an Arctic drilling plan in alliance with Russian state-controlled OAO Rosneft.
On Monday, the CEO of Rosneft was sanctioned in the new round of penalties issued by the U.S.