THE HILL | Published March 8, 2025
President Trump on Friday said he was weighing additional sanctions and tariffs on Russia in a push to bring Moscow to the negotiating table to end the war in 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,” Trump posted Friday on Truth Social.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” he added.
Trump’s threat of sanctions against Russia comes days before members of his administration are set to meet with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia to discuss a path toward ending the war. The same administration officials had met with their Russian counterparts in Riyadh last month.
The president has spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin about the conflict, though he has been much more critical of Zelensky, and the United States suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv in recent days.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 after amassing troops on the border and demanding a ban on Ukraine ever joining NATO. The invasion took place nearly a decade after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
The Biden administration imposed numerous sanctions on Moscow in the years since the war started, including hitting Russia’s energy sector, its defense sector and various other aspects of the Russian economy in an effort to cripple its funding for the war.
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SOURCE: www.thehill.com
RELATED: Trump threatens Russia with sanctions until Ukraine peace agreed
Trump’s threat of banking curbs and tariffs followed a Reuters report on Monday that the White House was preparing to give Russia possible sanctions relief as part of the push to end the war
BUSINESS STANDARD | Published March 8, 2025
President Donald Trump said Friday he is strongly considering levying new sanctions and tariffs on Russia for its war against Ukraine, floating the possibility of new pressure on Moscow just days after he ordered a pause on US military assistance and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, said he was considering the action based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now.
He added that the prospective sanctions could remain in place until the two sides come to a ceasefire and peace settlement.
The sanctions threat came as Trump faces criticism for increasing pressure on Ukraine to reach a deal while playing down or even denying Russia’s responsibility for starting the war with its invasion three years ago.
To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late, Trump added in his post.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday that the US has kept its sanctions in place on Russia and will not hesitate to go all in should it provide leverage in peace negotiations.
Joe Biden’s administration over the course of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine imposed thousands of sanctions on Russian firms, people and ships as well as a price cap on Russian oil, among other actions.
Bessent called Biden’s sanctions on Russian energy egregiously weak and stemming from worries about upward pressure on US energy prices.
Per President Trump’s guidance, sanctions will be used explicitly and aggressively for immediate maximum impact,” Bessent said. They will be carefully monitored to ensure that they are achieving specific objectives.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters Friday there is still a heck of a lot of room to put further pressure on the Russian economy through sanctions.
President Trump is adamant that we need to get everybody to the table, and we could do that with carrots, and we could do that with sticks, Hassett said.
Russia launched overnight attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities with dozens of missiles and drones, officials said Friday, hobbling the country’s ability to deliver heat and light to its citizens and to power weapons factories vital to its defences.
The barrage which also pounded residences and wounded at least 10 people came days after the US suspended military aid and intelligence to Ukraine to pressure it into accepting a peace deal being pushed by the Trump administration.
Without US intelligence, Ukraine’s ability to strike inside Russia and defend itself from bombardment is significantly diminished.
Trump, days into his second, nonconsecutive White House term, said targeting Russia’s oil revenue was the best way to get Moscow to end its nearly three-year war against Ukraine. He leaned in on the idea that OPEC+, the alliance of oil producing nations, holds the key to ending the war by reducing oil prices.
But that push has been received coolly by OPEC+ nations, which include the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Trump has had a complicated history with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Republican president has even raised the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in making the case for why he believes he can trust Putin to not restart his war on Ukraine if a truce is reached.
Putin went through a hell of a lot with me, Trump told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during last week’s contentious Oval Office meeting that led to Trump pausing aid and intelligence with Ukraine. He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia.
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