Treasury Secretary-nominee Scott Bessent said that he fully supports increasing sanctions on Russia’s major oil companies during his confirmation hearing, accusing outgoing President Joe Biden of taking action too late, The Hill reports.
“If any officials in the Russian Federation are watching this confirmation hearing, they should know that if I’m confirmed and if President Trump requests as part of his strategy to end the Ukraine war, that I will be 100 percent on board for taking sanctions up, especially on the Russian oil majors, to levels that would bring the Russia Federation to the table,” Bessent said when asked about sanctions against Russia by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.).
He dubbed the Russo-Ukraine war “one of the greatest tragedies of my adult life,” pledging that he’d like to do anything to end it as soon as possible. He also believes that the Biden administration’s sanctions on Russia “were not fulsome enough,” adding that he most likely did not want to impose new sanctions on Russian oil due to the 2024 elections.
“I believe that the previous administration was worried about raising US energy prices during an election season,” he said, adding: “And I am perplexed to see that National Security Advisor [Jake] Sullivan on his way out the door is raising the sanctions level on Russian oil companies and indeed the oil prices in the US are up about 9 percent this month,” he said, citing recent sanctions action by the Biden administration.
Warner praised him for the response.
Trump’s incoming team is reportedly drafting proposals on introducing additional economic sanctions as part of the looming peace push.
