US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has publicly criticized the European Union’s repeated sanctions against Russia, calling them an ineffective and counterproductive strategy. In a recent interview with NBC News, Bessent argued that the EU’s 19 consecutive rounds of sanctions against Moscow have failed to achieve their intended goals and are, in fact, inadvertently funding the war. He emphasized that if a policy is implemented 19 times with no success, it is a clear indication that it is not working. The sanctions, which target Russian banks, crypto exchanges, and businesses in India and China, have become a prominent point of contention within the EU itself, with countries like Hungary and Slovakia calling for a reassessment of the strategy and a shift toward diplomacy instead of continued sanctions.
While the EU has pushed to maintain the pressure on Moscow, the United States has taken a dual approach, combining diplomatic efforts with economic sanctions against Russian entities. Bessent criticized the EU for lagging behind in its trade strategies against China and India, particularly regarding their continued purchases of Russian oil. He suggested that the EU’s reluctance to follow the U.S. tariff strategy against these countries has left them in a weaker position in the global trade landscape. Meanwhile, the U.S. has also imposed 50% tariffs on India over its oil imports from Russia, a move that New Delhi has denounced as unfair and unjustified.
Other U.S. officials have echoed Bessent’s concerns about the EU’s approach. Earlier this week, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance criticized the bloc for setting unrealistic expectations in the context of the Ukraine conflict, arguing that there is a fantasy that increased military and economic support will lead to an immediate victory. In a recent statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that the U.S. is running out of options for sanctioning Russia, as Washington has already blacklisted major Russian oil companies like Lukoil and Rosneft at the request of Ukraine and its backers.
The Russian government has consistently dismissed the EU’s sanctions as self-destructive and futile, arguing that they only serve to escalate the conflict rather than resolve it. The repeated sanctions have also caused internal divisions within the EU, with some members calling for a more flexible and diplomatic approach. As the situation continues to evolve, the question remains whether the EU’s current strategy is sustainable or if a shift in policy will eventually be necessary to achieve a more effective outcome.