Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday urged Europe to back up President Donald Trump’s strategy of pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin into ending the Ukraine war by sanctioning countries that buy Moscow’s energy products.
Ahead of an Alaska summit between Trump and Putin on Friday to discuss a possible resolution to the Ukraine conflict, Bessent wants Europe to be ready to impose “secondary tariffs” on countries dependent on Russian energy in the event “things don’t go well,” and the United States believes more pressure needs to be applied on Moscow to get to Russia to agree to a ceasefire.
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“The Europeans need to join us in these sanctions,” Bessent said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “They need to.”
China and India lead several countries that have continued to purchase oil, coal, and gas from Putin at discounted prices after many nations, including most European countries and the U.S., boycotted Russian energy products when Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Trump administration is hoping that a comprehensive secondary tariff strategy, in which sanctions are placed on third parties to punish adversaries, could help incentivize an end to hostilities between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Bessent believes placing hefty tariffs on countries that still rely on Russian energy will pressure them to abandon Russia, backing Putin into a corner where he is forced to negotiate an end to the Ukrainian war in order to save his economy.
Trump has already placed steep tariffs on India for buying Russian energy, which helps finance Putin’s war in Ukraine. Both the president, in March, and Bessent, in July, have suggested that sanctions on China would be next. During a July interview with CNBC, Bessent specifically urged “our European allies, who have talked a big game, to follow us” if the U.S. pursued such secondary tariffs.
Still, Europe has been slow to support the secondary tariff strategy, with Bessent criticizing allies on Wednesday for their skepticism about a proposal from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) that would place a 500% levy on countries that purchase Russian oil or natural gas.
“It’s put up or shut up time,” Bessent said, as the Russian military pierced Ukraine’s front lines this week. “The president is creating his own leverage. We need the Europeans to come in and help create more leverage.”
“The Europeans need to be willing to put on these secondary sanctions,” the treasury secretary added as he referenced their reluctance about the strategy during the June G7 summit between the U.S. and key allies.
“I was at the G7 meeting in Canada with President Trump, and the Europeans kept talking about Senator Graham’s bill to impose secondary tariffs,” he continued. “And I looked at all the leaders around the table, and I said: Is everyone at this table willing to put a 200% secondary tariff on China? And you know what? Everybody wanted to see what kind of shoes they were wearing.”
Zelensky likewise urged Europe on Wednesday to match the U.S. position on sanctions.
Putin is “trying to put pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine. Of course, this is their desire,” he said. “We need further pressure for peace. Not only American, but also European sanctions.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also appeared to agree with the U.S. about possibly placing more robust sanctions targeting Russia in remarks following a Wednesday meeting in Berlin with Zelensky and major European leaders about the Ukraine war. Trump joined the meeting by phone.
“If there is no movement on the Russian side in Alaska, then the United States and we Europeans should and must step up the pressure,” Merz said.
Overall, the meeting appeared to reach an amicable consensus between the U.S. and European countries on the conflict, with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen calling it a “very good call” and Trump characterizing allies as “great people who want to see a deal done.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reflected the overall mood of the attendees when he said all sides were “united” in pushing to end the war, adding that the “ball is now in Putin’s court” ahead of Trump’s Friday meeting with Putin.
The White House has held off on placing new sanctions on Russia amid hopes that the meeting, the first direct encounter of its kind between Putin and Trump during his second term in office, could yield a positive turn in negotiations for a Ukraine ceasefire.
Bessent said this week that sanctions on Russia would be relaxed or tightened depending on how the high-profile encounter goes.
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“I think everyone has been frustrated with President Putin,” he said. “We expected that he would come to the table in a more fulsome way. It looks like he may be ready to negotiate, and we put secondary tariffs on the Indians for buying Russian oil. And I could see, if things don’t go well, then sanctions or secondary tariffs could go up.”
“I’m not going to get ahead of the president, but the president is the best at creating leverage for himself, and he will make it clear to President Putin that all options are on the table,” Bessent concluded.