Washington is ready to use "leverage" on Moscow to facilitate a peace deal in Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said

The White House is prepared to introduce more sanctions against Russia if doing so would help resolve the Ukraine conflict, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on Thursday. Such measures could be used as leverage against Moscow during peace negotiations, he said.

Since assuming office in January, US President Donald Trump has been working to negotiate a resolution to the conflict and also restore relations between Moscow and Washington.

"This administration has kept the enacted sanctions in place, and it will not hesitate to go all in should it provide leverage in peace negotiations," Bessent told the audience while speaking at the Economic Club of New York.

"As per President Donald Trump's guidance, the sanctions would be used explicitly and aggressively for immediate maximum impact," he emphasized, adding that potential measures would be "carefully monitored to ensure that they are achieving specific objectives."

Introduced in 2014 following Crimea's reunification with Russia, US restrictions have been expanded through numerous executive orders and were recently prolonged for another year through March 6, 2026. 

After escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Western countries targeted Russia with a wide range of sanctions and froze around $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian central bank.

Designed to damage the Russian economy and make the cost of the Ukraine military operation too high, the restrictions are widely viewed as having fallen far short of their aim. Russia's GDP growth came in at 3.6% in 2023 and 4.1% last year, according to official figures. 

Moscow has dismissed the Western sanctions as "illegal" and warned that seizing its frozen assets would amount to "theft." President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia has overcome the challenges posed by the sanctions and has even credited them with boosting domestic industries.

Bessent's comments come as Moscow and Washington have restarted contacts following a phone conversation between Putin and Trump in February and subsequent high-level talks between Russian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this week, reports emerged that Washington directed the State Department and Treasury to draft proposals for easing certain sanctions on Russia. The proposed relief, which could include specific Russian entities and individuals, will reportedly be discussed in the near future.