US Treasury Secretary Bessent says Russian economic woes can bring Putin to table

The US and Europe are discussing a new round of sanctions and secondary tariffs on Russia, hoping that a Russian economic “collapse” will bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to peace talks with Ukraine, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

“We are prepared to increase pressure on Russia, but we need our partners in Europe to follow,” Mr Bessent said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sept 7.

He said that President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D.Vance spoke to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sept 5, and she later spoke to Mr Bessent about sanctions.

“We are in a race now between how long can the Ukrainian military hold up versus how long can the Russian economy hold up? And if the US and the EU can come in with more sanctions, more 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 said.

Russia is already under crippling sanctions from both the US and Europe, but has found customers for Russian oil and gas in India and elsewhere.

Mr Trump’s plans for a quick negotiated end to the nearly four-year war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine have evaporated after a summit with Mr Putin in Alaska in August.

Since then, Russia has continued to bombard Ukraine, with an assault on Sept 7 on the main Ukrainian government complex in Kyiv, an attack deemed a “serious escalation of the conflict”.

Ukraine and its allies have intensified work on security guarantees after Mr Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European leaders and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Washington in August after the Putin meeting. 

Mr Trump has not relaxed the sanctions imposed on Russia under President Joe Biden, but he has racheted back the level of support Washington provides to Kyiv.

Last week, Mr Trump demanded more economic pressure from Europe on Mr Putin, including a total halt to purchases of Russian oil and gas, according to Finnish President Alexander Stubb. The US leader also called on Europeans to apply pressure to China, he said. 

The two EU countries that continue to buy Russian oil are Hungary and Slovakia, Mr Zelensky told reporters last week. Allies have agreed to meet about sanctions between EU and US officials to “discuss how to stop all channels of energy trade with Russians”.

Mr Bessent on NBC said that he was meeting with European sanctions officials in Washington on Sept 8 to discuss more economic pressure. BLOOMBERG