Tensions Between US And Russia Deepen As Trump's Treasury Secretary Hits Out At 'Propagandist' Envoy

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, left, speaks to reporters as President Donald Trump, right, listens aboard Air Force One while traveling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Tokyo, Japan, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025.Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary Scott Bessent hit out at the Kremlin after a Russian envoy tried to dismiss the impact of the US’s new sanctions on Moscow.The White House implemented fresh sanctions against Russia for the first time last week, punishing its oil companies in the hope of pushing Vladimir Putin to end his war in Ukraine.In a move much welcomed by his European allies who have also increased economic pressure on Moscow, Trump froze all US-based assets of Russia’s two largest oil firms – Rosneft and Lukoil.The US also made it possible for secondary penalties on foreign institutions which could conduct transactions with entities on the blacklist.It was a surprising move from the US president, considering he has often expressed sympathy for the Russian invasion of Ukraine even while calling for peace in the region.US plans for a high-level summit with Putin in Budapest also broke down recently, and Trump has insisted he would not meet with Putin unless there was a clear plan for peace.But Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev – who plays a key part in the diplomacy between Moscow and Washington – told the US media that the new sanctions would not have much of an effect.The head of the Russian Direct Investment Funds insisted: “No pressure works on Russia.”So Bessent furiously hit back in an interview with CBS News on Sunday, saying: “Are you really going to publish what a Russian propagandist says?“I mean, what else is he going to say?“The Russian economy is a wartime economy. Growth is virtually zero.”Bessent claimed the US can make a “substantial debt” in Putin’s profits and therefore impact his war machine.When the new penalties were first announced last week, the Russian president described them as an “unfriendly act” – and said Moscow would not give in to economic pressure.Russia continued to launch fresh missile and drone attacks across Ukraine over the weekend, too.Putin claimed to have sucessfully tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile on Sunday, too.Meanwhile, news agency Reuters has recently reported that the Trump administration is already thinking about further sanctions unless Putin engages with peace talks.The US president said Putin should focus on ending the war in Ukraine instead of testing a new nuclear-powered missile. He said: “They know we have a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shores, so I mean, it doesn’t have to go 8,000 miles.”Trump added: “I don’t think it’s an appropriate thing for Putin to be saying, either, by the way: You ought to get the war ended, the war that should have taken one week is now in ... its fourth year, that’s what you ought to do instead of testing missiles.”Related...'An Act Of War': Putin Ally Blasts Donald Trump Over Russian Oil SanctionsTrump’s Flip-Flopping Putin Policy Flips Again With New Russia SanctionsBBC Russia Expert Delivers Reality Check To Trump After Putin Talks Scrapped

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