The US and Europe are discussing a new round of sanctions and secondary tariffs against Russia, hoping that a Russian economic"collapse" will lead Vladimir Putin to peace talks with Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.

"We are prepared to increase pressure on Russia, but we need our partners in Europe to follow suit," Bessent said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press."

According to Bessent, US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday. Later, Bessent also discussed the sanctions with the head of the EU executive.

" We are now in a race between how long the Ukrainian army can hold out versus how long the Russian economy can hold out. And if the US and the EU can impose more sanctions, more secondary tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, the Russian economy will completely collapse and that will bring President Putin to the negotiating table," he said.

Speaking to NBC, Bessent also said he would meet with European sanctions officials in Washington on Monday to discuss further economic pressure.

Russia is already under crushing sanctions from both the US and Europe, but has found customers for Russian oil and gas in India and elsewhere.

Trump's plans for a swift, negotiated end to the nearly four-year war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine, faded after a summit with Putin in Alaska last month. Since then, Russia has continued to bomb Ukraine, with an attack this Sunday on the main Ukrainian government complex in Kyiv, an attack considered a"serious escalation of the conflict."

Ukraine and its allies stepped up efforts to achieve security guarantees after Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, several European leaders, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington last month, following his meeting with Putin.

Trump hasn't eased sanctions imposed on Russia under President Joe Biden, but he has reduced the level of support Washington provides to Kyiv. According to Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Trump demanded more economic pressure from Europe on Putin last week, including a complete suspension of Russian oil and gas purchases. The US leader also called on Europeans to exert pressure on China, Stubb said.

The two EU countries that continue to buy Russian oil are Hungary and Slovakia, Zelensky told reporters last week. The allies agreed to meet with EU and US representatives to"discuss how to cut off all energy trade channels with the Russians."