President Donald Trump considers imposing new sanctions on Russia, days after suspending military aid to Ukraine. The president said that the sanctions could be in force until both countries do not agree to talk about the war.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said Friday that he is “seriously considering” imposing new sanctions and tariffs on Russia for his War against Ukraineraising the possibility of a new pressure on Moscow days after having ordered a suspension to the delivery of military aid and the United States intelligence exchange with kyiv.
In a publication on his Truth Social platform, the president said he was considering the action “based on the fact that Russia is 'attacking' absolutely Ukraine on the battlefield at this time.”
He added that possible sanctions could be maintained in force until both parties reach a fire cessation agreement and a peace agreement.
The threat of sanctions occurred while Trump faces criticism for increasing the pressure on Ukraine to reach an agreement, while minimizing or even denies Russia's responsibility for starting the war with his invasion three years ago.
“For Russia and Ukraine, come to the table right now, before it is too late,” Trump added in his publication.
The secretary of the Treasury, Scott Besent, said in the New York economic club on Thursday that the United States has maintained its sanctions against Russia and “will not hesitate to go with everything if that provides lever in the peace negotiations.”
The government of former president Joe Biden imposed thousands of sanctions on Russian companies, people and ships along the invasion of Russia to Ukraine, as well as a russian oil prices limit, among other actions.
Besent described Biden's sanctions on Russian energy as “egregiously weak” and “derived from concerns about rising pressure in energy prices in the United States.”
“According to President Trump's guidelines, the sanctions will be used explicitly and aggressive for an immediate maximum impact,” said Besent. “They will be carefully monitored to ensure that they are achieving specific objectives.”
Kevin Hasett, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters on Friday that there is still “much space” to exert more pressure on the Russian economy through the use of sanctions.
“President Trump is firm in which we need to take everyone to the table, and we can do it with carrots, and we can do it with sticks,” said Hasset.
Russia launched night attacks against Ukrainian energy facilities with dozens of missiles and drones, officials said on Friday, weakening the country's ability to provide heat and light to its citizens and to feed vital weapons factories for their defense.
The bombing – which also impacted residences and left at least 10 injured – occurred days after the United States suspended military aid and intelligence to Ukraine to press it to accept a peace agreement promoted by the Trump government.
Without the intelligence information of the United States, the ability of Ukraine to attack areas of the interior of Russia and defend against bombings is significantly diminished.
Trump, days after starting his second unseee mandate in the White House, said that aiming at Russia's oil revenues was the best way to get Moscow to end its war of almost three years against Ukraine. He focused on the idea that Opec+, the alliance of oil -producing countries, has the key to ending war by reducing oil prices.
However, that thrust has been received with coldness by the countries of the Opec+, which include the rich oil kingdom of Saudi Arabia.