Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent said he would support hiking sanctions against Russia if President-elect Donald Trump directs him to do so and accused President Joe Biden of playing politics on sanction policy.

President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said he "100%" supports raising sanctions on Russian oil producers if the future president requests doing so.

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

Separately, the Keremet Bank in Kyrgyzstan is being sanctioned for coordinating with Russian officials and a U.S. bank to evade sanctions.

President Joe Biden just dropped a sanctions bomb on Russia; one so tightly sealed it’s built to survive Donald Trump’s reign. Especially as the president-elect seems dead set on fixing his friendship with Russia’s president Vlad Putin.

Under the new rules, Congress has the authority to block any attempts to remove these restrictions. Additionally, the implementation of secondary sanctions has now become mandatory. This move aims to strengthen oversight mechanisms over sanction policies and maintain pressure on Russia.