Secondary Tariffs on Countries Buying Russian Oil Can Push Russia to Negotiations, Says Scott Bessent

Amid escalating trade tensions, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that stronger measures by the US and Europe, including secondary tariffs on the countries that purchase Russian oil, could possibly push Moscow to negotiations regarding the Ukraine war.

Addressing Meet the Press, Bessent said, "If the US and the (European Union) can come in, do more sanctions, secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil, the Russian economy will be in full collapse, and that will bring President Putin to the table," Reuters reported.

He further emphasized that the Trump administration is "prepared to increase pressure on Russia", thereby requesting Western allies to close ranks. "We need our European partners to follow us, because if the US and the EU do this together, we are in a race now between how long can the Ukrainian military hold up versus how long the Russian economy can hold up," he stated.

India and China under Scanner

The White House official was recently under spotlight for calling India and China "bad actors" because of their continued purchase of Russian oil, which he argued indirectly supports Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The US has already imposed steep tariffs, 50 per cent on India and 145 per cent on China, for buying Russian crude. However, the Chinese levy was suspended for 90 days.

Trump-Putin Summit Fails to Secure Deal

Bessent’s remarks came days after the summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Alaska failed to make any breakthrough on pausing the war in Ukraine.

The U.S. President described the talks as "productive", saying there were "many points the two leaders agreed on". However, he also mentioned that the two sides were unable to come to a resolution.