Russia has launched the most intense aircraft assault of Ukraine since the start of the war, prompting Donald Trump to warn further penalties against the country. The strikes on Sunday caused the first damage to Ukraine’s major government building in Kyiv and killed four people, including a woman and her infant.
Proposals for more robust Western action against President Vladimir Putin have increased in response to the strike, which Ukraine claimed featured at least 810 drones and 13 missiles.
Russia will never be forced to “change the consistent position that our president has repeatedly spoken about” by sanctions, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday.
Following the bombardment, the US president told reporters he was “not happy with the whole situation.”
Prior to Putin ignoring his deadlines and sanctions threats, Trump had warned more severe penalties against Russia but had done nothing.
Trump said, “Yeah, I am,” when asked on Sunday if he was ready to launch the “second phase” of punishing Moscow, but he provided no further explanation.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington was ready to increase economic pressure but required more European support, which is why the warning was made.
According to Bessent, if EU members imposed more secondary taxes and sanctions on states who purchase Russian oil,
“the Russian economy will be in total collapse, and that will bring President Putin to the table”,
“We are in a race now between how long can the Ukrainian military hold up, versus how long can the Russian economy hold up.” He stated.
Washington’s most aggressive action to date has been a 50% duty on Indian imports, which was put in place last month in retaliation for Delhi’s ongoing purchases of Russian oil. Trump has hinted at the possibility of imposing such secondary sanctions on other nations, although he hasn’t done so yet.
According to Trump, European leaders will visit Washington early this week to talk about methods to end the war.
Trump stated, “Certain European leaders are coming over to our country on Monday or Tuesday individually,” but he did not name the leaders. He also hinted that he would talk to Putin over the course of the next few days.
European countries should completely cease purchasing Russian energy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with ABC News.
“We have to stop [buying] any kind of energy from Russia, and by the way, anything, any deals with Russia. We can’t have any deals if we want to stop them.” he stated. If we wish to prevent them, we cannot make any bargains. Trump’s tariff policy, he said, was “the right idea” to stop Moscow’s income.
The Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a research tank, estimates that Russia has made almost $985 billion (£729 billion) from oil and gas since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in March 2022.
The EU has greatly curtailed, but not completely stopped, sales, while China and India have been the biggest purchasers. By 2027, Brussels has promised to phase out all Russian energy imports.
Russia is trying to open more markets in spite of the growing sanctions. Moscow announced it would expand gas supply to China during a meeting last week in Beijing.
Russia and the other oil-producing countries, known as OPEC+, have decided to increase output, which might lower oil prices globally and make it more difficult for the West to put pressure on Moscow’s finances.
Source: BBC News
