US says it’s ready to drive Russian economy to ‘collapse’

The United States is ready to join forces with European countries to impose additional sanctions that seek to drive the Russian economy into complete “collapse,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC News on Sept. 7.

“We are in a race now between how long can the Ukrainian military hold up versus how long can the Russian economy hold up,” Bessent said.

Washington is ready to ramp up pressure on Russia but stressed that support from European partners is crucial.

“If the U.S. and the [European Union] can come in, do more sanctions, secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil, the Russian economy will be in total collapse, and that will bring [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin to the table,” Bessent said.

Earlier, German Gref, head of Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, reported that Russia’s economy essentially stopped growing in the second quarter of 2025. Production, investments, and incomes showed little to no increase, while business activity sharply slowed.

In August, Bloomberg reported on the weakening Russian economy amid the prolonged war and sanctions, noting declines in key sectors and warnings that banks might require government intervention to stabilize.