U.S. President Donald Trump has signalled tougher sanctions against Russia after Ukraine endured its most intense aerial assault since the war began — a barrage that killed four people, including a mother and her baby, and struck Kyiv’s main government building for the first time.
Ukraine said Sunday’s overnight attack involved at least 810 drones and 13 missiles, overwhelming air defences and inflicting fresh devastation. The scale of the bombardment has renewed calls for stronger Western action to curb President Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Speaking to reporters after the strikes, the US president admitted he was “not happy with the whole situation.” When asked if Washington was ready to move into a “second phase” of punishing Moscow, Trump replied, “Yeah, I am,” but declined to detail what further measures could entail.
Trump has repeatedly threatened harsher penalties against Russia but previously hesitated to follow through when Putin ignored earlier deadlines. This time, however, he hinted that new steps were imminent, adding that European leaders would arrive in Washington this week to coordinate the response.
“Certain European leaders are coming over to our country on Monday or Tuesday individually,” Trump said, without naming them. He also confirmed plans to speak with Putin “in the next couple of days.”
The Kremlin dismissed Trump’s warnings. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted no sanctions could force Russia to abandon its “consistent position” in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested Western allies must go further to cripple Moscow’s economy. “If EU nations increased sanctions and secondary tariffs on countries buying Russian oil, the Russian economy would be in total collapse — and that would bring President Putin to the table,” he told reporters.
Bessent warned the conflict had become a test of endurance: “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 boldest move has been a 50% tariff on Indian imports last month, punishing Delhi for its continued purchases of Russian oil. Trump has floated extending such “secondary sanctions” to other nations but has yet to act.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to ABC News, urged a complete embargo. “We must stop buying any kind of energy from Russia — and not just energy, but anything. No deals. If we want to stop them, we can’t fund them,” he said. Zelensky welcomed Trump’s tariff strategy as “the right idea” to choke Moscow’s revenues.
Since launching its full-scale invasion in March 2022, Russia has reaped an estimated $985 billion (£729bn) from oil and gas sales, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. China and India remain its biggest customers, while the EU has pledged to phase out Russian energy imports by 2027.
Yet Moscow continues to find new lifelines. Last week in Beijing, Russia announced plans to expand gas exports to China, while OPEC+ — the oil producers’ alliance that includes Russia — agreed to boost output, a move that could lower global prices and complicate Western efforts to squeeze the Kremlin’s finances.
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