On Friday morning, President Trump stated that he is considering imposing sanctions on Russia, saying Russia is “absolutely pounding Ukraine on the battlefield.”
Trump said he is considering sanctions until a peace deal is reached between Russia and Ukraine.
“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely “pounding” Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED. To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.
On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the Trump administration was prepared to impose further sanctions on Russia, “A major factor that has enabled the Russian war machine’s continued financing was the Biden administration’s egregiously weak sanctions on Russian energy, stemming from worries about upward pressure on U.S. energy prices,” he said at the Economic Club of New York. “This administration has kept the enhanced sanctions in place and will not hesitate to go ‘all in’ should it provide leverage in peace negotiations. … (Sanctions on Russia) will be used explicitly and aggressively for immediate maximum impact.”
This would not be the first time Trump sanctioned Russia. In April 2018, the Trump administration sanctioned specific Russian officials and oligarchs. “The Treasury Department, after consulting with the State Department, sanctioned seven Russian oligarchs and 12 companies they control, plus 17 top Russian officials, a state-owned weapons-trading company and a subsidiary bank,” CNBC reported. In August 2019, President Trump issued an executive order giving the Treasury Department and Commerce Department authority to issue sanctions banning granting Russia loans or other assistance from international financial institutions.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram to urge a “silence in the sky,” adding, “The first steps to establishing real peace should be to force the sole source of this war, that is, Russia, to stop precisely such attacks against life,” the Independent reported, adding, Ukraine’s air force announced this morning that Russia had fired 67 missiles and 194 drones. They said they shot down 34 of the rockets and 100 drones, with 86 additional unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) having disappeared in the air.”
