Scott Bessent has said he is in favor of ramping up pressure on Moscow if it helps end the Ukraine conflict
Scott Bessent, US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for treasury secretary, has pledged to place even tougher sanctions on Russia, describing it as a key leveraging tool for ending the Ukraine conflict.
His comments came amid speculation that Trump could reshape US sanctions policy against Russia, possibly to include canceling the restrictions outright.
During his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Scott Bessent blasted the administration of US President Joe Biden over its sanctions policy, arguing that the measures taken against Moscow “were not fulsome enough.”
He also suggested that Biden officials only moved to tighten sanctions on Russia’s oil industry less than two weeks before the end of the administration because of well-founded fears that they would raise US energy prices, which would not score any political points.
Bessent said he would fully support tougher sanctions on Russia if confirmed as secretary and that Trump had asked him to develop them to help resolve the Ukraine conflict.
“If any officials in the Russian Federation are watching this confirmation hearing, they should know that if I’m confirmed, and if President Trump requests it as part of his strategy to end the Ukraine war, I will be 100% on board for taking sanctions up — especially on the Russian oil majors — to levels that would bring the Russian Federation to the table,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration imposed its most extensive sanctions yet on Russia’s energy sector, targeting major oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 ships involved in oil transport. The measures caused oil prices to jump several percentage points on fears that the new restrictions would disrupt global supply chains.
Russia regards Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict as “illegal.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has criticized the restrictions against the Russian oil industry, saying that such actions destabilize global markets.
As the incoming administration prepares to take office, Trump’s team is developing a double-edged sanctions roadmap to end the Ukraine conflict, according to Bloomberg. The agency’s sources said that one potential approach involves easing sanctions on Moscow to facilitate peace talks, while another contemplates intensifying them to increase US leverage in negotiations.
