United States President Donald Trump has threatened tougher sanctions against Russia after its heaviest aerial bombardment on Ukraine since the war began.
Sunday’s strikes killed four people, including a mother and her baby, and damaged Ukraine’s main government building in Kyiv for the first time.
The attack, which Ukraine said involved at least 810 drones and 13 missiles, has led to growing calls for stronger Western action against President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking to reporters after the bombardment, the US president said he was “not happy with the whole situation.”
Trump has previously threatened harsher measures against Russia, but has not taken any action when Putin ignored his deadlines and threats of sanctions.
Asked on Sunday if he was prepared to move to the “second phase” of punishing Moscow, Trump replied: “Yeah, I am,” though he gave no details.
The threat follows remarks from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said Washington was prepared to escalate economic pressure but needed stronger European backing.
In an interview with NBC, Bessent said that if EU nations increased sanctions and secondary tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, “the Russian economy will be in total collapse, and that will bring President Putin to the table”.
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He added: “We are in a race now between how long the Ukrainian military can hold up, versus how long the Russian economy can hold up.”
So far, Washington’s most aggressive measure has been a 50% tariff on imports from India, imposed last month in response to Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil.
Trump has floated the idea of extending such secondary sanctions to other countries, but has yet to follow through.
European leaders are expected to travel to Washington early this week to discuss ways of ending the war, Trump has said
“Certain European leaders are coming over to our country on Monday or Tuesday individually,” Trump said, without specifying which leaders.
He also signalled that he would speak with Putin in the next couple of days.
In an interview with ABC News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged European nations to stop buying energy from Russia.
