{"id":1186817,"date":"2026-09-04T23:05:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T23:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1186817\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T23:05:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T23:05:16","slug":"scott-bessent-met-with-russias-finance-minister-then-he-said-ukrainian-strikes-on-russian-energy-sites-were-helping-fuel-a-global-energy-shock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1186817\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Bessent met with Russia\u2019s finance minister. Then he\u00a0said Ukrainian strikes on\u00a0Russian energy sites were helping fuel a\u00a0global \u2018energy shock.\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Ukrainian strikes on\u00a0Russian oil infrastructure one of\u00a0the causes of\u00a0the global energy crisis. He\u00a0spoke after a\u00a0meeting of\u00a0G20 finance ministers<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0North Carolina, to\u00a0which Anton Siluanov, Russia\u2019s finance minister, was invited for the first time since the start of\u00a0the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cUkraine has decided that they want to\u00a0blow up\u00a0Russian energy assets and refined products,\u201d Bessent said on\u00a0Fox News, adding that the attacks were contributing to\u00a0an\u00a0energy shock and putting upward pressure on\u00a0prices globally. He\u00a0also cited the U.S. war with Iran, but stressed that the conflict would come to\u00a0an\u00a0end.<\/p>\n

Siluanov\u2019s presence at\u00a0the summit \u2014 and his bilateral talks with Bessent \u2014 drew criticism from Ukraine\u2019s allies. Anton Gerashchenko, a\u00a0former adviser to\u00a0Ukraine\u2019s interior minister,\u00a0pushed back<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Bessent\u2019s remarks, arguing that his framing transforms Ukraine \u201cfrom a\u00a0victim of\u00a0Russian aggression into a\u00a0cause of\u00a0a\u00a0global problem\u201d and \u201creverses cause and effect.\u201d The energy crisis, he\u00a0said, is\u00a0driven primarily by\u00a0wars, and the U.S.\u2013Iran conflict has had a\u00a0far greater impact on\u00a0global markets.<\/p>\n

Gerashchenko stressed that the United States wants to\u00a0cut Russia\u2019s energy revenues without reducing Russian energy supplies to\u00a0global markets, and that rising gas prices ahead of\u00a0November\u2019s midterm elections have forced the Trump administration to\u00a0find a\u00a0\u201cconvenient explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those elections and fears of\u00a0another spike in\u00a0fuel prices have already slowed passage of\u00a0a\u00a0new sanctions bill targeting Russia in\u00a0the House of\u00a0Representatives,\u00a0Bloomberg\u00a0reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The bill was drafted by\u00a0the late Senator Lindsey Graham of\u00a0South Carolina. It\u00a0would allow the United States to\u00a0impose tariffs of\u00a0up\u00a0to\u00a0100 percent on\u00a0imports from countries that are among the largest buyers of\u00a0Russian oil and gas \u2014 chiefly China, India, and Turkey. The Senate passed it\u00a0by\u00a0an\u00a0overwhelming majority in\u00a0August, but the House has been less receptive, with lawmakers concerned that removing Russian oil from the global market could push gas prices even higher amid the war with Iran.<\/p>\n

Ukraine is\u00a0trying to\u00a0persuade Congress not to\u00a0delay the sanctions. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president\u2019s commissioner for sanctions policy, traveled to\u00a0Washington this week to\u00a0meet with members of\u00a0Congress and\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Ukraine was \u201cquite optimistic\u201d about the level of\u00a0support for the bill. \u201cEveryone agreed that it\u00a0was necessary to\u00a0increase pressure on\u00a0Russia,\u201d Vlasiuk said. \u201cNo\u00a0one said that he\u00a0definitely would not support this bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The European Union, meanwhile, is\u00a0weighing new restrictions on\u00a0Russia. After Germany blamed Moscow for a\u00a0failed drone attack at\u00a0Leipzig Airport, European diplomats plan to\u00a0discuss curbing tourist visas for Russians, restricting Russian diplomats\u2019 travel within the EU, and sanctioning additional vessels in\u00a0Russia\u2019s \u201cshadow fleet,\u201d Bloomberg\u00a0reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The war in\u00a0photos: Brovary, Kyiv region<\/p>\n

Industrial sites in\u00a0the Brovary district of\u00a0the Kyiv region have been burning for a\u00a0second straight day after Russian strikes. A\u00a0drone\u00a0hit<\/a>\u00a0a\u00a0Coca-Cola plant on\u00a0September 3, and warehouses\u00a0caught fire<\/a>\u00a0after another strike on\u00a0the morning of\u00a0September 4.<\/p>\n

At\u00a0Meduza, we\u00a0are committed to\u00a0transparency about our use of\u00a0artificial intelligence in\u00a0the newsroom. The story you\u2019re reading was written by\u00a0one of\u00a0our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an\u00a0AI\u00a0model configured to\u00a0follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is\u00a0the result of\u00a0extensive testing and refinements to\u00a0ensure our English-language coverage is\u00a0timely and accurate. A\u00a0Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0you find any errors in\u00a0this translation, please contact us\u00a0at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To\u00a0read Meduza\u2019s exclusive content in\u00a0English, please subscribe to\u00a0our newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meduza<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cover photo: AFP \/ Scanpix \/ LETA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Ukrainian strikes on\u00a0Russian oil infrastructure one of\u00a0the causes of\u00a0the global energy crisis.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1186818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7655],"tags":[332,7888,7883,7886,7875,7868,7880,7870,7881,7887,7876,7864,7871,7865,7873,7874,7866,7869,7867,7885,7879,7872,7884,7882,7878,7877],"class_list":["post-1186817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-russia","tag-russia","tag-7888","tag-7883","tag-7886","tag-7875","tag-7868","tag-7880","tag-7870","tag-7881","tag-7887","tag-7876","tag-7864","tag-7871","tag-7865","tag-7873","tag-7874","tag-7866","tag-7869","tag-7867","tag-7885","tag-7879","tag-7872","tag-7884","tag-7882","tag-7878","tag-7877"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117215279869846583","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1186817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1186818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1186817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1186817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1186817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}