As he deals with Moscow’s unwillingness to put an end to the conflict, US President Donald Trump has indicated that he is prepared to increase sanctions against Russia in response to Russia’s ongoing disobedience over the war in Ukraine, but he has not specified what such steps might be.
He responded, “Yeah, I am,” when asked by a reporter in Washington on Sunday if he was prepared to move the second phase of penalties.
When a reporter questioned him in mid-August about China, which had been exempted from punitive tariffs for purchasing Russian oil, he responded, “I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something might have to “in two or three weeks.” However, the brief response gave no indication of what—or who—he had in mind.
However, he had imposed a 25% punitive price and singled out India for the oil embargo.
Over three weeks have passed since Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of his peace efforts to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine.
Despite his optimistic rhetoric, Russia has escalated its airstrikes on Ukraine and Putin has not yet met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In response to the increased Russian attacks, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett stated, “I’m sure that there’s going to be a lot of talk today and tomorrow about the level of sanctions and the timing of sanctions.”
He responded, “It’s up to the president in the end,” when asked by a CBS News interviewer when he would announce any fresh penalties. However, it is a really disheartening sequence of events.
In order to get Moscow to engage in negotiations, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the European Union (EU) may join the United States in imposing secondary penalties on Russian oil purchasers.
He disregarded the EU’s direct purchases of gas from Russia and its indirect purchases of Russian oil-based goods from India.
That might make it difficult for the EU to continue buying from Russia while enforcing punishing measures against India, as Bessent proposed.
Bessent stated to an NBC interviewer that “the Russian economy will be in complete collapse if the US and the EU can come in and do more sanctions, secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil, and that will bring President Putin to the table.”
“We need our European partners to follow us, but we are ready to put more pressure on Russia,” he continued.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, called attention to the EU’s discriminatory practices.
“They (some Europeans) continue to buy oil and Russian gas,” he said in an interview with ABC News. Furthermore, this is unfair. It is unfair to be open and transparent.
Zelensky argued that the punitive measures against India were the “right idea.”
“Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China,” the interviewer recalled Trump’s recent Truth Social post following the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Did the plan backfire by trying to put sanctions on them?” she asked Zelensky.
“No,” he replied. “I believe that imposing tariffs on nations that continue to do business with Russia is a good idea.”
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