Russia has unleashed its heaviest bombardment on Ukraine since the war began — more than 800 drones and missiles pounding cities.
The strikes killed four people, including a young mother and her baby, and for the first time, struck Kyiv’s main government building.
The devastation has reignited calls for the West to hit Moscow harder.
Donald Trump says he’s ready to do just that.
Asked if he was prepared to move to a “second phase” of sanctions, the US president replied: “Yeah, I am,” though he offered no details.
His Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, was more direct, telling NBC that if Europe toughened its stance.
“The Russian economy will be in total collapse, and that will bring President Putin to the table.”
Will Sanctions Ever Shift Putin’s Stance?
But the Kremlin isn’t flinching. “No sanctions will ever force Russia to change its position,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov shot back.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky echoed Washington’s line, urging Europe to fully cut off Russian energy.
“We can’t have any deals if we want to stop them,” he said, praising Trump’s tariffs as “the right idea.”
The numbers show the challenge: Russia has earned nearly $1 trillion from oil and gas since 2022, with China and India as major buyers.
So the question hangs: will sanctions bite fast enough to shift Putin’s calculus — or will Moscow simply find new markets to weather the storm?
