Scott Bessent, who is to become US Treasury Secretary, said that it is necessary to move to tougher sanctions to put pressure on Russia. This means that in the States there is indeed a readiness for such steps.

At the same time, Senator Marco Rubio, whom Donald Trump chose to serve as Secretary of State, said that in order to end the war, both Russia and Ukraine would have to make concessions. He did not specify what kind of concessions he was talking about..

According to the political scientist, both future administration officials - Bessent and Rubio - are the people Trump likes most, since he did not need to choose the candidates that Congress would clearly agree on, since the Republicans have a majority there.

“Donald Trump now has quite wide opportunities to appoint almost anyone to the position of Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State, since it is clear that almost any candidacy of Donald Trump, the Republican President, will pass through the Congress, through the Republican Congress. Therefore, we can conclude that he chose not on the principle of who would pass through Congress, but on the principle of who he liked the most. Well, at the hearings we see what the people he chose, probably the future Minister of Finance, say about tightening sanctions,” Filipenko said.

She added that sanctions are the first and main instrument of pressure on the aggressor. But at the same time she recalled that Trump said: if Russia does not make concessions, he can provide Ukraine with new weapons and the opportunity to use American weapons more widely.

" Plus, Trump is, as one might say, an unpredictable person, and he himself is proud of his own unpredictability. But he also often plays such complex diplomatic games. He may well take some steps that we cannot even expect from him, and it is sometimes very difficult to predict this. But the main thing is the use of American weapons, these are additional weapons,” the political scientist noted.

It is also possible to put pressure on the Russian Federation through third countries, for example, through China.. Trump has already had a conversation with Xi Jinping, which reportedly went very well.

The new US president can also use relations with Xi Jinping to put pressure on Russia, realizing that China is simply absolutely necessary for Russia in order to support the economy, which is already in a very difficult situation.

Let us remind you: the candidate for the position of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that he would support the further imposition of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. This should push the Kremlin to negotiate an end to the war.