Tariffs on Russian oil buyers can bring Putin to table, says Trump official

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that stronger joint measures by the US and Europe, including secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil, could push Moscow to the negotiating table over the Ukraine war.

"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," Bessent told NBC’s Meet the Press, according to Reuters.

He stressed that the Trump administration is "prepared to increase pressure on Russia", urging 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 can the Russian economy hold up," he said.

India and China under scrutiny

Bessent has recently drawn attention for calling India and China "bad actors" due to 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 ends without deal

Bessent’s remarks came days after the Alaska summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which ended without any breakthrough on ending or pausing the war in Ukraine.

Trump described the talks as "productive", saying there were "many points the two leaders agreed on", but made clear that "there's no deal until there's a deal".

Now in its fourth year, the Ukraine war has become the deadliest conflict in Europe since 1945, with little sign of resolution despite ongoing international efforts.