WASHINGTON: The United States will announce a major expansion of sanctions against Russia within hours, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday (Oct 22), a day after President Donald Trump halted plans for a summit with Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.

“We are going to either announce after the close this afternoon, or first thing tomorrow morning, a substantial pickup in Russia sanctions,” Bessent told reporters at the White House.

He offered no immediate details but later told Fox Business that the decision followed Moscow’s failure to negotiate sincerely with Washington.

“President Putin has not come to the table in an honest and forthright manner, as we’d hoped,” Bessent said. “The president is disappointed at where we are in these talks.”

PUTIN ‘NOT HONEST AND FORTHRIGHT’ IN TALKS

Trump had held off on new sanctions for months in hopes of persuading Putin to agree to a ceasefire, despite growing frustration in Washington and among European allies.

The president last week floated the idea of a meeting with Putin in Budapest to push for a peace deal but abruptly shelved the plan on Tuesday, saying he did not want “a wasted meeting.”

Bessent’s comments came as the European Union approved its 19th package of sanctions on Russia, including a phased ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and restrictions on oil tankers and diplomats.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has repeatedly alternated between threats and outreach to Moscow as he seeks to end the three-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine.

At the same time, he has pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to give up some territory while rejecting Kyiv’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.