On Friday morning, President Trump announced that he is considering imposing sanctions on Russia, stating that Russia is “absolutely pounding Ukraine on the battlefield.”

Trump added that he is contemplating the sanctions remaining in place until a peace deal is reached between Russia and Ukraine.

“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely “pounding” Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED. To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.

On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the Trump administration was ready to impose additional sanctions on Russia.

“A major factor that has enabled the Russian war machine’s continued financing was the Biden administration’s egregiously weak sanctions on Russian energy, stemming from worries about upward pressure on U.S. energy prices,” he said at the Economic Club of New York.

“This administration has kept the enhanced sanctions in place and will not hesitate to go ‘all in’ should it provide leverage in peace negotiations. … (Sanctions on Russia) will be used explicitly and aggressively for immediate maximum impact,” he added.

This is not the first time Trump has sanctioned Russia. In April 2018, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on specific Russian officials and oligarchs.

“The Treasury Department, after consulting with the State Department, sanctioned seven Russian oligarchs and 12 companies they control, plus 17 top Russian officials, a state-owned weapons-trading company and a subsidiary bank,” CNBC reported. 

In August 2019, President Trump issued an executive order that granted the Treasury Department and Commerce Department the authority to impose sanctions preventing Russia from receiving loans or other forms of assistance from international financial institutions.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram to urge a “silence in the sky,” adding, “The first steps to establishing real peace should be to force the sole source of this war, that is, Russia, to stop precisely such attacks against life,” the Independent reported.