President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday he is ready to move to the “second phase” of sanctions against Russia following its airstrike assault on Ukraine on Sunday.
Trump initially gave Russia a 50-day ultimatum in July, telling the Kremlin to end its war in Ukraine or it would get hit with more sanctions and economic repercussions from the United States. Trump then fast-tracked the deadline to Aug. 8, which expired without an announcement of sanctions; instead, Trump revealed that he would be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The president has not imposed any new sanctions on Russia this year, but he has kept intact the Biden-era sanctions on the country. In August, he increased pressure on Russia by increasing the U.S.’s tariffs on India to 50% over that nation’s purchases of Russian oil.
Trump was not specific or elaborate on Sunday when asked if he was ready to move to the next phase of Russian sanctions. He answered the reporter’s question with a succinct “Yeah, I am” on his way out of the White House before flying to New York to watch the U.S. Open men’s final.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on NBC News’s Meet the Press on Sunday and told host Kristen Welker that Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and he had each spoken with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of Monday’s meeting with EU officials at the Treasury Department. Bessent said they will talk about what the EU and the U.S. can do together to put pressure on Russia.
“We are prepared to increase pressure on Russia, but we need our European partners to follow us,” Bessent told Welker. “If the U.S. and the EU can come in, do more sanctions, secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil, the Russian economy will be in full collapse, and that will bring President Putin to the table.”
India, Brazil, and China and among some of the top purchasers of Russian oil, the Washington Examiner reported.
The Trump administration’s rhetoric around increased sanctions against Russia and tariffs on its trading partners follows the Kremlin’s major airstrike assault on Ukraine on Sunday as hopes for peace talks between the two nations have stalled.
“We are in a race now between how long can the Ukrainian military hold up versus how long can the Russian economy hold up,” Bessent said.
RUSSIA DAMAGES UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT BUILDING IN LARGEST ATTACK SINCE WAR BEGAN
Russia launched over 800 drones, nine missiles, and four ballistic missiles into Ukraine on Sunday, killing four people and injuring 44, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The attack was reportedly the largest air attack since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“Last night Russia yet again launched a massive attack against Ukraine, hitting civilian sites across the country in the largest aerial attack since the full-scale invasion began. The senseless killing of a mother and an infant as well as destruction on an unprecedented scale is unacceptable. Which is why President Trump’s priority is to end the war through a just, durable negotiated settlement.” Julie S. Davis, chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, said on X.
