The US will announce “significant” sanctions against Russia

The US government will impose a “significant increase” in sanctions against Russia as fighting in Ukraine continues, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant.

Bessent’s comments came just before NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was at the White House, where he said he hoped to discuss “how to present” Trump’s “vision for peace” in the conflict.

Earlier in the day, Rutte said he believed Trump was “the only one who could do this.”

At least seven people were killed, including two children, in intense Russian drone and missile strikes against Ukraine – just hours after Trump said plans to meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest had been postponed.

Bessent did not provide further details on the upcoming sanctions, but said they would be announced “either after the close this afternoon or as soon as tomorrow morning.”

US lawmakers, including Republicans, had been waiting for a green light from the White House to vote on a bill that would impose tough sanctions on Russia and also target countries that buy oil from the Kremlin.

At the White House, Rutte was expected to discuss a 12-point plan formulated by European NATO allies and Kiev, which calls for a freeze on current front lines, the return of deported children, and a prisoner exchange between the two warring countries.

The plan also includes a fund to rebuild Ukraine from the war, as well as security pathways and a clear path for Ukraine to join the EU, as well as increased military aid to Kiev and economic pressure on Moscow.

Earlier this week, Trump said he did not want a “wasted meeting” with Putin in Budapest and suggested the main point of contention was Moscow’s refusal to stop fighting on the current front line.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was due to take place this week, but the White House said the two had a “productive” conversation and that the meeting was no longer “necessary”.

Trump, for his part, has previously endorsed proposals to freeze fighting on current front lines.

“Let it be cut as it is,” he said Monday. “I said: cross and stop at the battle line. Go home. Stop fighting, stop killing people.”

Russia, for its part, opposed the idea, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying “the consistency of Russia’s position does not change” – a reference to its desire for Ukrainian troops to leave the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Trump also dismissed a report in the Wall Street Journal that the US had approved Russian long-range missile strikes in Ukraine, calling it “fake news”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed a desire for the United States to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to his forces and suggested that the threat of their introduction into theater could bring Russia to the negotiating table.