In August, not long after the Alaska summit ended, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent threw out a harsh statement, pointing to Europe's attitude towards sanctions against Russia. This statement sounds simple, but when you look at it carefully, it exposes the core of Trump's overall diplomatic and economic layout.
Best said that Europe has to "make efforts or shut up" in sanctioning Russian oil buyers, which is not only a war against Ukraine, but also involves the reallocation of global energy landscape and economic dominance.
After Trump took office, the fast-paced tariffs and sanctions policies were essentially helping the United States and Russia to define the sphere of influence, while Europe became the weaker side sandwiched in the middle.
Sanctions appear to be a suppression of Russia, but in actual operation, the United States uses these tools to ensure that it has the upper hand in the energy market and global trade, and Russia can also gain some benefits from it. For example, maintaining oil export channels, only buyers have to change to obedient ones.
Ukraine is just the starting point, and the game between the United States and Russia has long exceeded the border line and extended to key areas such as Arctic resources, Black Sea ports and European natural gas supply.
Trump officially took office on January 20, 2025, and Becent was confirmed as Treasury Secretary by the Senate on January 27.
Bester has long been Trump's economic adviser, helping raise funds and donate millions of dollars. After Becente took office, he was soon involved in Russia's policy, and in July he publicly supported strengthening Russian oil sanctions if Trump asked.
On August 13, on the eve of the summit, he was interviewed by Bloomberg, saying bluntly that Europe must cooperate with the United States to impose secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil, otherwise don't complain there.
Europe is closest to Ukraine, but it is dragging its back on oil imports. The United States feels this is unfair and has to force them to do their best. This statement is equivalent to publicly pointing out Trump's abacus: use tariffs as weapons to force allies to take sides, and at the same time leave some room for negotiation for Russia.
The Alaska Summit is a key node. It was held at the Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Base on August 15, 2025. Trump and Putin had a face-to-face conversation for two and a half hours. The main issue was a ceasefire in Ukraine, but there was no breakthrough in the result.
Trump wanted to end the war quickly and proposed territorial exchanges and nuclear arms control as conditions. Putin was open on the surface, but after the summit, Russia instead strengthened missile and drone attacks on Ukraine.
On September 1, Becent responded in a Fox News interview, saying that the Trump administration is considering all options, including new sanctions, because Putin's actions are contrary to previous peaceful statements.
This is not only a response to the escalation of the war, but also continuing the pressure before the summit. Besent stressed that sanctions can be "strengthened or relaxed" depending on the outcome of the negotiations, which implies that the United States and Russia have greater room for transactions outside Ukraine.
For example, after the Nord Stream pipeline was damaged, European natural gas prices soared, US liquefied natural gas exports increased sharply, Russian oil turned to India and China, and the United States now wants to use secondary tariffs to plug these loopholes and force buyers to turn to US energy.
Trump's design is very pragmatic. He knows that pure military aid to Ukraine is expensive and may not necessarily win, so he switches to economic leverage.
On April 23, Becente gave a speech at the Institute of International Finance, saying that Europe's initial increase in fiscal and defense spending proves that Trump's policy is effective, but it is not enough. He named Europe that it was necessary to resolve internal issues in order to truly participate in global negotiations.
This is down-to-earth, and the United States feels that Europe is too dependent on others and has to shoulder its own defense responsibilities, and at the same time, do not interfere with the United States' strategy towards Russia.
As a result, Europe, like Germany and France, began to discuss restarting the Nord Stream pipeline or increasing US natural gas purchases, but this is equivalent to allowing the United States to make a difference, Russia restores part of its revenue, and Europe pays for high-priced energy.
Ukraine is rich in mineral resources. The US Treasury Department signed an agreement with Kiev in early 2025, requiring Ukraine to distribute at least 50% of its future mineral and oil and gas revenue to the United States. In name, it is aid for development, but in fact it is economic control.
Putin is not stupid either. The summit documents hide the control of the Black Sea port, the ownership of the Zaporo thermonuclear power plant and the development of the Donbas mining area.
These are not only military, but also resource leverage.
Although Russian oil exports are sanctioned, they are detoured by middlemen such as India. The global commodity market fluctuates greatly in 2025, and the natural gas futures summit rose, and metals are synchronized.
The Trump administration puts pressure on Ukraine to accept territorial concessions. Secretary of State Rubio publicly said that this is the key to peace. Ukraine may default on Russia to control the four eastern states and the Crimea parts in exchange for fuzzy security guarantees.
Bestert threatens secondary sanctions, imposes 100% tariffs on third countries that buy Russian oil, such as India, and even vents 500% of China's normal trade. This is essentially an extension of the hegemony of the US dollar, forcing the global trade system to be reshaped.
The situation in Europe is the most embarrassing. On August 13 before the summit, German Chancellor Mertz convened a video conference to try to Rat Trump, Zelensky and the British and French leaders to build a line of defense, propose a ceasefire and security guarantee, but delete war compensation.
European intelligence shows that Trump and EU President von der Leyen have negotiated an agreement, including a 15% tariff bundling of $600 billion in US investment and $750 billion in energy procurement.
This made Europe a "leek field", investing in Ukraine's aid and wealth for three years in exchange for a position on the edge of the negotiating table.
Bester publicly admitted that he supported Trump to "take kickbacks" to companies such as Nvidia. At the G7 summit in June, he invited allies to increase tariffs on China by 200%, which further exposed his thinking: Allied wealth is the US "sovereign fund".
European protests are pale, Indian Foreign Ministry denounced the unreasonable US tariffs. China countered two EU financial institutions on August 13 and promoted the settlement of local currencies in BRICS countries.
On September 1, Russia promoted the Donetsk offensive, Europe increased its defense spending, the United States suspended Eastern European military training funds, and turned to domestic energy projects.
Becente reiterated the sanctions option and warned Europe not to drag its back. This is equivalent to pointing out Trump's top-level design: The United States and Russia will divide the influence of energy and resources through Ukraine negotiations, not only territories, but also global supply chains.
Russia maintains control of the Black Sea, the United States earns energy spread, Europe suffers bitter fruit, and a third country is forced to choose sides.
Reference:
1. You want 500 billion US dollars of minerals, and I take 1/5 of the territory, and Ukraine is "divided" by the United States and Russia? Sina Finance 2025-02-23
2.20—Qiu Mi Hui City: U.S.-Russia negotiations to end the war? Dividing interests show your fangs! Special Contributor to Gold.com 2025-02-20
