GuShiio.com ① U.S. President Trump said he is “strongly considering” imposing far-reaching sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a peace agreement is reached between Russia and Ukraine;
② Affected by Trump’s consideration of large-scale sanctions against Russia, international oil prices rose in the short term, with Brent crude oil rising nearly 3% in the day;
③ Trump has ordered a suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine to force Ukraine to accept the ceasefire agreement.
Financial Union, March 8 (Editor Niu Zhanlin)On Friday local time, U.S. President Trump said he was “strongly considering” imposing far-reaching sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a peace agreement is reached between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump posted on social media that day: “Based on the fact that Russia is now severely injuring Ukraine on the battlefield, I am seriously considering large-scale bank sanctions, other sanctions and tariff increases against Russia until a ceasefire and a final peace agreement is reached.” He added that both Russia and Ukraine needed to sit at the negotiating table “before it was too late.”
Before Trump’s latest comments, his meeting in the Oval Office with Ukraine President Zelensky ultimately turned into a bitter conflict that left the peace agreement’s way forward uncertain. Trump has said in recent weeks that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin wants peace.
Russia has repeatedly expressed its willingness to negotiate on the Ukraine issue, but Ukraine legally prohibits talks. In October 2022, Zelensky signed a decree banning negotiations with the Russian leadership. However, recently Zelensky changed his attitude and said he was willing to start peace negotiations with Russia.
Affected by Trump’s consideration of large-scale sanctions against Russia, international oil prices rose in the short term, with Brent crude oil rising nearly 3% in the day.
A day earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia if doing so would help resolve the conflict in Ukraine. He added that the sanctions could be used as bargaining chips in peace talks with Russia.
Since taking office in January, Trump has been working to negotiate a solution to the Ukraine conflict and restore relations between Moscow and Washington.
It is worth noting that in order to force Ukraine to accept the ceasefire agreement, Trump has ordered a suspension of military assistance and intelligence sharing to Ukraine.
Besent mentioned that the U.S. government will continue to maintain existing sanctions against Russia and will “clearly and actively exert the greatest immediate impact of sanctions” in accordance with Trump’s guidance.
In February 2022, after the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, Western countries imposed extensive sanctions on Russia, including its banking industry, freezing approximately US$300 billion in assets of the Russian central bank.
The sanctions are designed to harm Russia’s economy, forcing it to reassess the sustainability of military operations. However, Russia’s economic growth data shows that the sanctions have not caused the expected severe impact, which has also triggered further reflection on the effectiveness of the sanctions policy.
Russia dismissed Western sanctions as “illegal” and warned that seizing Russian assets amounts to “theft.” Putin said Russia has overcome the challenges posed by sanctions and even believes that sanctions have boosted domestic industries.
At the same time, Russian troops recovered parts of the Kursk region controlled by Ukraine, giving Ukraine less leverage for potential peace talks. Data from open-source mapping service DeepState shows that in less than three weeks, the Kursk region controlled by Ukraine shrank by nearly a fifth.
