Bessent blames Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil for global energy shock after meeting Russia's finance minister at G20
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are driving up global fuel prices, naming both the Russia–Ukraine war and the conflict around Iran as causes of an energy shock. The remarks came after he held bilateral talks with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers' summit in North Carolina, a step that drew criticism from some US allies. US diesel prices were near record levels and Brent crude rose to roughly $97 a barrel.
Key points
- Bessent said Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are contributing to a global energy shock and higher fuel prices.
- He cited both the war in Ukraine and the conflict around Iran as drivers of the shock.
- Bessent met bilaterally with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers' meeting in North Carolina.
- The US decision to invite Siluanov and meet him face-to-face drew criticism from some allies; Bessent rejected that criticism and defended the contacts.
- US diesel prices approached record levels; Brent crude rose to about $97 per barrel.
- The US Senate passed bipartisan legislation that would oblige the Trump administration to impose stricter sanctions on Russia.
- Putin publicly expressed solidarity with Iran the same week, praising the Iranian regime for "courage and resilience."
Why it matters
A senior US administration official publicly attributed part of the rise in global energy prices to Ukrainian military actions against Russia rather than to Russia as the invading party. His face-to-face meeting with Russia's finance minister on the G20 sidelines broke with the previous Western practice of walking out on Siluanov and drew allied criticism. With US diesel near record levels and Brent around $97 a barrel, the comments carry immediate market and domestic political weight, and stand in tension with a Senate-passed bipartisan bill to tighten sanctions on Russia and with the view of most US lawmakers that Russia is the unambiguous aggressor.
What happened
Speaking on Fox News on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers' summit in North Carolina, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are contributing to a global energy shock and pushing up world fuel prices. He named both the war in Ukraine and the conflict around Iran as drivers of the shock. The remarks followed a bilateral meeting with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov held on the G20 sidelines. The US decision to invite Siluanov and meet him in person drew criticism from some allies, and Bessent rejected that criticism at a press conference, defending direct contacts with a representative of the aggressor state. At the time of his remarks, US diesel prices were near record levels and Brent crude had risen to roughly $97 per barrel. Separately, the US Senate passed bipartisan legislation that would oblige the Trump administration to impose stricter sanctions on Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly expressed solidarity with Iran the same week, praising the Iranian regime for "courage and resilience."
How Ukrainian sources describe it
The three supplied Ukrainian-language articles center Bessent's accusation against Ukraine and stress the tension between his remarks and the position of most US lawmakers, who treat Russia as the unambiguous aggressor in the war. They foreground the criticism Bessent and the invitation to Siluanov received from partners, and note Putin's public solidarity with Iran the same week, framing the episode as part of a broader shift in US engagement with Moscow. One of the articles goes further, arguing that the Trump administration is shifting blame for an energy shock it attributes primarily to a US conflict with Iran onto Kyiv's actions.
Where reporting differs
One source article frames the global energy shock as mainly caused by the start of a US war against Iran and says the Trump administration is shifting part of the blame onto Kyiv; another centers Bessent's accusation against Ukraine without advancing that framing. A separate source article's headline points to broader media reporting on the Siluanov meeting and G20 context, while citing The New York Times for Bessent's remarks, and its body text is empty in the available record.
Background
In April, Bessent was criticized after temporarily easing some Russian-oil sanctions in an effort to bring down global energy prices. His ties to Kyiv have been strained since the start of Trump's second term, including a dispute with President Volodymyr Zelensky over a Ukrainian minerals deal. At earlier international meetings, US and other Western officials had walked out when Siluanov addressed colleagues via video conference, making this in-person bilateral a notable departure. The G20 finance ministers' meeting took place in North Carolina over two days.