US to Reassess 'Lazy' Sanctions from Biden Era, Says Treasury Secretary
The restrictions have threatened the status of the dollar, Scott Bessent said. US President Donald Trump has initiated a review of the sanctions policy with the objective of making these restrictions more impactful on countries such as Iran...
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The restrictions have threatened the status of the dollar, Scott Bessent said.
US President Donald Trump has initiated a review of the sanctions policy with the objective of making these restrictions more impactful on countries such as Iran and Russia, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
During an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday, Bessent criticized the "lackadaisical" sanctions implemented by former President Joe Biden, claiming that they have not yielded any significant results and have only been detrimental to the US.
“For a long time, we’d have what I always called lazy sanctions. They would just sit there. We think it threatens the dollar’s reserve currency status,” Bessent stated.
He added, “We come in, we hit them hard, we hit them fast, we hit them heavy. And that’s what we are doing with Iran. So we’re calling it Operation Maximum Pressure.”
Bessent also cautioned that the US could intensify sanctions against Russia if negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict do not succeed. “We will be able to get [Moscow] to the table without increasing the sanctions, but all options are on the table,” he noted.
In recent years, the US has either reinforced existing sanctions or instituted new ones against Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
Moscow has condemned these sanctions as illegal, asserting that they have ultimately fostered greater self-sufficiency and resilience within Russia. President Vladimir Putin remarked on Tuesday that, in spite of external pressure, the national economy continues to exhibit growth.
While speaking at a meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow, Putin accused the West of leveraging the Ukraine conflict as a means to eliminate Russia as a competitor.
“The sanctions are not temporary or targeted measures. It is a mechanism of systemic, strategic pressure on our country,” he said. He further emphasized that the West would persist in its attempts to undermine the Russian economy, regardless of the global context.
Olivia Brown contributed to this article for TROIB News
US President Donald Trump has initiated a review of the sanctions policy with the objective of making these restrictions more impactful on countries such as Iran and Russia, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
During an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday, Bessent criticized the "lackadaisical" sanctions implemented by former President Joe Biden, claiming that they have not yielded any significant results and have only been detrimental to the US.
“For a long time, we’d have what I always called lazy sanctions. They would just sit there. We think it threatens the dollar’s reserve currency status,” Bessent stated.
He added, “We come in, we hit them hard, we hit them fast, we hit them heavy. And that’s what we are doing with Iran. So we’re calling it Operation Maximum Pressure.”
Bessent also cautioned that the US could intensify sanctions against Russia if negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict do not succeed. “We will be able to get [Moscow] to the table without increasing the sanctions, but all options are on the table,” he noted.
In recent years, the US has either reinforced existing sanctions or instituted new ones against Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
Moscow has condemned these sanctions as illegal, asserting that they have ultimately fostered greater self-sufficiency and resilience within Russia. President Vladimir Putin remarked on Tuesday that, in spite of external pressure, the national economy continues to exhibit growth.
While speaking at a meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow, Putin accused the West of leveraging the Ukraine conflict as a means to eliminate Russia as a competitor.
“The sanctions are not temporary or targeted measures. It is a mechanism of systemic, strategic pressure on our country,” he said. He further emphasized that the West would persist in its attempts to undermine the Russian economy, regardless of the global context.
Olivia Brown contributed to this article for TROIB News
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