On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared in a Fox News exclusive interview, in which he stated that, after several Russian attacks in Ukraine in recent days, "all options are on the table" when it came to dealing with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.
Exactly how stringent those options may be is not yet clear.
Bessent spoke with Senior National Correspondent Rich Edson at Martin's Tavern in Washington, D.C., responding to a question about potential sanctions on Russia.
"I think everything's on the table," Bessent said. "President Putin, since the historic meeting in Anchorage, since the phone call, when the European leaders and President Zelensky 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 added: "So I think with President Trump, all options are on the table, and I think we'll be examining those very closely this week."
Everything's on the table? What, precisely, does that mean? Financial and trade sanctions? Second-hand sanctions on nations that do business with Russia - nations like China and India? A military blockade? Something more stringent?
So far, the Trump administration has only mentioned financial and trade sanctions, and we can hope it stays that way. But Putin appears to be determined to finish this thing on his terms, not President Trump's nor Ukraine's President Zelensky's terms.
Experts told Fox News Digital last week that the attack could be a signal Putin is utilizing diplomacy to buy himself more time to advance his goals and continue to attack Ukraine, all while avoiding secondary sanctions that the Trump administration has threatened to impose.
You don't say.
Following the Alaska Summit, it was easy to feel a little bit of optimism. There was a little hope that Tsar Vladimir I would see reason, that the resulting assembly of major European leaders in the White House, all of whom dropped what they were doing and flew to Washington on 36 hours' notice, would result in some kind of a deal that was acceptable to all parties.
It's becoming clear now, as many suspected, that President Putin isn't terribly interested in a peace deal. He seems more interested in rebuilding the late, unlamented (except by him) Soviet Union.
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Any sanctions would have to squeeze Russia hard. The sad part is that Russia's leadership, just as in the Soviet era, will be largely insulated from the effects of most of the sanctions. That's the way it's always been in Russia, in the Soviet Union before that, and in the Russian Empire even before that. The rich and powerful have their Swiss bank accounts and dachas in the woods, while the regular folks stand in line for potatoes.
This much is certain: Whatever Vladimir Putin says he wants to do and what he actually does are frequently two different things. Maybe harsh sanctions can bring this thing to an end. And, maybe not. If Putin's goal, which is, remember, the goal of an old KGB apparatchik, the reconstruction of the Soviet Union - of a new Russian Empire - he is liable to dig in and resist to the end.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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