Vladimir Putin raises nuclear stakes with provocative video

Bessent said the Treasury Department was ready to take further action if necessary to support Trump’s efforts to end the conflict, calling it a “senseless war” and calling on allies to support sanctions.

“Now is the time to stop the killings and establish an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the move, noting that Britain and others had also imposed sanctions on the same Russian oil companies a week earlier.

Starmer said, “Putin must pay the price for his unnecessary aggression. The murders must end now.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Bessent around the time the sanctions were announced and quickly supported them by making a statement.

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Hours earlier, the European Union approved the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, going beyond previous restrictions and including banning Russian LNG imports into Europe. The move came in response to Trump’s complaint that some NATO member states were still purchasing Russian oil and gas.

While most EU members stopped buying oil and gas, Slovakia and Hungary continued to do so. Türkiye, a NATO member but not an EU member, also buys Russian oil.

The gas ban will come into force in two phases: short-term contracts will expire after six months and long-term contracts will expire from 1 January 2027. The full ban will take effect a year earlier than the European Commission’s previous road map to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

A few days after Trump announced the idea of ​​holding talks in Hungary regarding the war in Ukraine, he canceled plans for a summit with Putin, saying he did not want a “wasted” meeting.

Trump appeared willing to discuss ceasefire terms, but Putin insisted that an agreement be reached that would confirm Russia’s dominance of the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, as well as Crimea and other parts of the country; Ukraine rejects this view.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Trump last week that he could not accept Russia’s claims and has since turned to European leaders to win more support in hopes of intensifying military pressure on Putin.

AEDT on Thursday, Trump said the summit was canceled due to a lack of diplomatic progress and a feeling that the timing was off.

“It didn’t seem right to me,” he said. “I didn’t feel like we were going to get where we needed to go. That’s why I canceled it, but we will do it in the future,” Trump said.

“All I can say in honesty is that every time I talk to Vladimir [Putin]I have nice conversations and then they don’t go anywhere. “They’re not going anywhere.”

The rhetoric of reaching a peace agreement for Ukraine, which rose even further after the ceasefire in Gaza last week, has been replaced by displays of military power on both sides of the European war.

A Russian drone strike hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv, killing one person and wounding seven others, the Ukrainian government said in the latest round of overnight attacks.

“Frankly, Russia is becoming more and more arrogant,” Zelensky said.

“These attacks are Russia’s spit on everyone who insists on a peaceful solution. Bandits and terrorists can only be put in place by force.”

Bessent outlined the sanctions while NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington to meet Trump.

So far, Trump has shied away from sanctions as a way to pressure Moscow about war; Instead, it relied on trade measures, including 25 percent tariffs on goods from India in retaliation for its purchase of Russian oil.

Trump said he hoped the new sanctions, which came after Britain imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil last week, would remain in effect for a long time.

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Meanwhile, European leaders plan to show their support for Ukraine at the European Union summit council meeting on Thursday, Brussels time, and at the “coalition of the willing” meeting in London on Friday.

Although the coalition was originally brought together by Britain’s Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss options for maintaining peace in the event of a ceasefire, it has become a forum to negotiate further military support for Ukraine.

One of the main goals of the European Council meeting, a regular forum for leaders of member states, is to agree on a loan worth 140 billion euros ($250 billion) to Ukraine, using frozen Russian assets as collateral.

Ukraine wants to buy more Patriot missile defense systems from the United States to defend its territory, but Trump rejected its request for Tomahawk missiles that could hit targets deep inside Russia.

Putin strongly opposed the sale of Tomahawks and followed up by showcasing Russia’s nuclear capabilities by conducting long-range missile launches from land, sea and air.

Zelensky met with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Wednesday to sign an agreement to purchase Gripen fighter jets capable of hitting targets in Russia.

“Everyone can see what threats these help to counter. We expect the future contract to allow us to purchase at least 100 of these jets,” Zelensky said.

AP via Reuters