President’s Statement from White House Lawn Signals Intensified U.S. Economic Pressure; Treasury Secretary Bessent Confirms Plans for a Unified Front with E.U.
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he is prepared to move to a “second phase” of sanctions against Russia, a declaration made just hours after Russia conducted its largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began.
Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn before his departure for the U.S. Open, the president’s “yes” to a question on the new sanctions signaled an abrupt shift in tone following a recent peace summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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While Trump did not specify the details of the new measures, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a separate interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, provided clarity on the administration’s strategy.
Bessent confirmed that discussions are underway with European Union officials, including E.U. President Ursula von der Leyen, to coordinate a unified economic front.
A Unified Front to Bring Putin to the Table
Bessent emphasized that a collaborative U.S. and E.U. approach is crucial, particularly targeting Russia’s oil revenue.
“If the U.S. and the E.U. 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,” he stated.
The move is aimed at crippling a key financial lifeline for the Russian war machine.
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The overnight assault on Kyiv, which saw Russia launch at least 810 drones and decoys, targeted a central government building for the first time, killing at least four people and injuring dozens.
Ukrainian officials, including Prime Minister Svyrydenko and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have called for the world to respond with punitive measures, specifically targeting Russia’s oil and gas sector.
A Race Against Time
The new push for sanctions comes despite Trump’s previous optimism for peace after his summit with Putin in Alaska last month.
Since then, Russia has continued to escalate its attacks, prompting Secretary Bessent to frame the current situation as a “race” between the resilience of the Ukrainian military and the sustainability of the Russian economy.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, who recently rejected a meeting with Putin in Moscow, believes the Russian leader’s desire to meet with the U.S. President is a way to project an image of power.
“Putin doesn’t want to meet with me, but he wants very much to meet with the President of the United States, to show everybody video and images that he is there,” Zelenskyy told ABC News.
The full details of the “second stage” sanctions are expected to be a key topic of discussion at Secretary Bessent’s meeting with European economic officials on Monday.
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