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US Treasury Chief Calls Russian Envoy a “Propagandist,” Says Sanctions Are Crippling Moscow’s Economy
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Finance Secretary Scott Bessent said Russia’s economy is already in “wartime mode” with zero growth and soaring inflation, according to CBS News on October 26.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed comments from Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who claimed that US and European sanctions would have “absolutely no effect” on Russia’s economy.
Speaking on CBS News’s “Face the Nation”, Bessent called Dmitriev’s remarks false and accused him of spreading Kremlin propaganda.
“Well, I think Russia is going to feel the pain immediately,” Bessent said. “We’ve already seen India has completely halted purchases of Russian oil. Many of the Chinese refineries have stopped. And Margaret, are you really going to publish what a Russian propagandist says? I mean, what else is he going to say? That it’s going to be terrible and it will bring Putin to the table?”
Earlier in the week, Dmitriev—Russia’s special envoy in the US—told reporters that Western sanctions would not damage Russia’s economy but instead “lead to higher gas prices in the United States.”
Bessent dismissed those claims, stressing that Moscow’s wartime economy was stagnating under growing financial pressure.
“The Russian economy is a wartime economy. Growth is virtually zero. Inflation, I believe, is over 20%, and everything we do is going to bring Putin to the table,” he said. “It’s oil that funds the Russian war machine, and I think we can make a substantial dent in his profits.”
When CBS host Margaret Brennan asked whether Dmitriev’s presence in the US was connected to lifted sanctions, Bessent replied that the envoy’s statements carried no credibility.
“What do you think is going to happen to him if he goes back home and says on TV, ‘This is terrible, President Trump just did the right thing. This is a maximum pressure campaign that’s going to work’? Of course he’s going to say what the Kremlin wants,” Bessent said.
Bessent added that Russia’s oil revenues have already fallen 20% year over year and could drop another 20–30% as sanctions tighten.
“They haven’t immunized the economy,” he said. “Their oil earnings are collapsing. President Trump was criticized for not doing enough. He takes this bold maneuver, and then you’re quoting a Russian propagandist.”
Earlier, US President Donald Trump told reporters the US has “the greatest nuclear submarine in the world” stationed near Russia—and said Putin should end the war in Ukraine instead of testing missiles.
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