The US Treasury Secretary: Washington is ready to increase pressure on Russia, but expects EU support

The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that his country is ready to increase pressure on Russia, but on condition that partners in Europe support these steps.

He said this on NBC News.

Bessent said that on September 5, the US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance had a “very productive” conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Afterward, she called Bessent and they discussed what the US and the EU could do together.

"We are ready to increase pressure on Russia, but we need our European partners to follow our example," said the head of the US Treasury Department.

According to the minister, the introduction of additional secondary sanctions and tariffs against countries that continue to buy Russian oil could bring the Russian economy to "complete collapse" and force Putin to sit at the negotiating table.

• On September 1, another deadline for the Russian leader, announced to him by Donald Trump, came up. He insisted on a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to end the war and threatened that he could impose large-scale sanctions against Russia.
• However, as Bloomberg wrote, during a meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing" on September 4, European leaders persuaded the US president to impose new sanctions against Russia.

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