Oct. 22 (UPI) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said the Trump administration plans “a substantial pickup” in Russian sanctions as hopes to end the war in Ukraine are stalled.
Extensive sanctions were imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022. Initially, they were imposed in March 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea.
“We are going to, either announce after the close this afternoon or first thing tomorrow morning, a substantial pickup in Russia sanctions,” Bessent told reporters outside the White House.
“You’ll have to wait and see what it is,” he added.
He didn’t provide details.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI
Sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, currently block numerous Russian financial institutions, including Sberbank, VTB Bank and Gazprombank, from doing business in the United States. Also, the Treasury Department has sanctioned major components of Russia’s financial infrastructure, including the Moscow Exchange, the National Clearing Center and the National Settlement Depository.
And the United States has blocked petroleum, aluminum, copper and nickel from Russia. The Trump administration is attempting to halt third-country access, including India, with tariffs.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI
The State Department helps formulate and authorize sanctions.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has introduced new sanctions on Russia, but his party is waiting to hear from the White House to bring the bill up for a vote.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he is holding off on plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, in “two weeks or so” because it would be a “waste of time” with Russia opposed to an immediate cease-fire.
Trump, during his 20224 presidential campaign, said he would end the war in Ukraine before he even took office. But now he said the task is more difficult than expected.
Trump has flip-flopped on Ukraine’s chances to halt Russia. In late September, he said Ukraine could win back all of its territory after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Previously, Trump has insisted that Ukraine give up land to Russia as part of any peace deal.
Russia is estimated to control about 20% of Ukraine’s territory.
Trump and Zelenskyy met in the Oval Office on Friday, their third meeting since Trump returned to office in January. Trump declined to provide Ukraine with the long-range Tomahawk missiles to prevent an escalation of the war after initially it was possible to send them.
Trump spoke on the phone with Putin the day before.
The president told the two leaders that “it is time to stop the killing and make a deal,” in a Truth Social post after the meeting.
“Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by war and guts,” he said.
“No more shooting, no more death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent.”
Zelensky said Putin fears Ukraine obtaining Tomahawk missiles, but Zelensky is “realistic” about the situation.
Put said that Tomahawks would weaken the already strained relations between Russia and the United States.
Overnight Tuesday, Russia launched another round of attacks from drones and miles on Ukraine, killing six people, including two children.
The attack was after Ukraine used British-provided long-range Storm Shadow missiles to strike a chemical plant in Russia’s Bryansk, around 62 miles from the border with Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia’s strikes came a decision by the Trump administration to lift restrictions on long-range strikes.
Trump decried the Journal report on Truth Social, calling it “FAKE NEWS! The U.S. has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them.”
Ukraine, with a population of 3.79 million, broke off from the Soviet Union, which includes Russia, after a declaration of independence on August 24, 1991.
Zelensky became president in May 2019.
