US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has indicated that Russia is prepared to impose more stringent sanctions on it and urged European allies to press Russia’s economy by putting pressure on nations that still purchase its oil.
Bessent said the conflict has become “a race between the Russian economy and the Ukrainian military,” as he told NBC News on Sunday.
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Additional sanctions and secondary tariffs on countries importing Russian crude, in Bessent’s opinion, would “into total collapse” and “at the table” President Vladimir Putin, according to Bessent.
Our European partners must follow us, said Bessent, but “we are prepared to put pressure on Russia.”
One of the highest levies Washington has ever imposed on any nation comes a month after US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed 50 percent tariffs on India for its continued purchases of Russian oil.
Russia launched its largest air assault since the invasion started in 2022, according to Ukrainian officials, hours before Bessent’s remarks. At least four people were killed and a government building in Kyiv was sparked by the overnight strikes.
The attack was condemned on Sunday by US envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg, who claimed on X that Moscow “appears to be escalating with the largest attack of the war, hitting offices of the UKR Cabinet in Kyiv.”
He continued, “The attack did not indicate that Russia wanted to diplomatically end this war.”
Trump also made hints about a more stern stance on Sunday, suggesting he was prepared to impose sanctions on Moscow or its oil aces.
The US president responded, “Yeah, I am,” but he declined to provide further details when asked whether he was ready to enter “the second phase” of sanctions.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to put more pressure on Russia, but he has vehemently avoided taking any specific actions, despite his struggles to fulfill his pledges to put an end to the war asap.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, welcomed the possibility of sanctions against states that still conduct business with Moscow.
He stated in an interview with ABC on Sunday that he was “very thankful to all the partners,” but “some of them, I mean, they continue to buy oil and Russian gas, and this is not fair.” “I think the idea of imposing tariffs on the nations that continue to make deals with Russia is the right thing to do,” he said.
Trump has been trying for months without success to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
He met with Putin for the first time since taking office in his second term last week in Alaska. He met with European leaders in Washington shortly after for a discussion on ending the war.
Source: Aljazeera
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