Bessent says ‘all options on the table’ as Trump administration weighs Russia sanctions

WASHINGTON

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that “all options are on the table” as the Trump administration weighs new sanctions on Russia due to its continued bombing of Ukrainian cities.

Bessent made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Fox News, when asked about potential measures against Moscow.

“(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin, since the historic meeting in Anchorage, since the phone call, when the European leaders and (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy were at the White House the following Monday, has done the opposite of following through on what he indicated he wanted to do. As a matter of fact, he has, in a despicable, despicable manner, increased the bombing campaign,” Bessent said.

“So I think with President (Donald) Trump, all options are on the table, and I think we’ll be examining those very closely this week,” he added.

Following his summit with Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, Trump said he would know within “two weeks” whether progress can be made toward ending the Russia-Ukraine war, while also hinting at possible sanctions against Moscow.

He has warned that failure to make progress could trigger “massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS in an interview after the Alaska summit that while President Trump has the option to impose new sanctions, doing so would mean the “end of the talks.”