The US is preparing a fresh round of sanctions on Russia’s energy sector to increase the pressure on Moscow should President Vladimir Putin reject a peace agreement with Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter.
The US is considering options, such as targeting vessels in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers used to transport Moscow’s oil, as well as traders who facilitate the transactions, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
The new measures could be unveiled as early as this week, some of the people said.
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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed the plans when he met a group of European ambassadors earlier this week, the people said. “President Trump is the President of Peace, and I reiterated that under his leadership, America will continue to prioritise ending the war in Ukraine,” he wrote in a post on social media after the meeting.
The people cautioned that any final decision rests with US President Donald Trump. A request for comment placed with the Department of the Treasury outside business hours wasn’t immediately returned.
A raft of sanctions imposed on Russia since it launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022 haven’t changed Putin’s calculus so far. However, measures targeting Moscow’s oil sector have pushed crude prices to their lowest point since the invasion began, exacerbating the country’s existing economic distress.