Scott Bessent, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of treasury, speaks as he testifies during a Senate Committee on Finance confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 16, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump are crafting a wide-ranging sanctions strategy to facilitate a Russia-Ukraine diplomatic accord in the coming months while at the same time squeezing Iran and Venezuela,

Treasury Secretary-nominee Scott Bessent told senators Thursday that he would be “100 percent on board” with increasing sanctions on Russia’s major oil companies if President-elect Trump supports

The Treasury in a statement said Washington was imposing fresh sanctions on almost 100 critical Russian entities - including Russian banks and companies operating in Russia's energy sector - that were previously sanctioned by the United States in a move it said increases secondary sanctions risk for them.

The United States issued new Russia-related sanctions on Wednesday targeting multiple individuals, a China-based entity and a bank in Kyrgyzstan, according to a notice posted on the U.S. Department of Treasury website.

President Joe Biden's administration says it's expanding sanctions against Russia's critically important energy sector over its war in Ukraine.

The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced sanctions connected with Russian secret payment channels created to skirt U.S. restrictions and a Kyrgyzstan financial institution that supports the Krem

In the run-up to his departure from the White House, President Joe Biden has slapped a number of major new sanctions on Russia’s financial systems and energy sector. The U.S. originally threatened Russia with “the mother of all sanctions” as Moscow prepared to invade Ukraine in February 2022.