Sanctions in the Shadow of the Russo-Ukraine War

September 8th, 2025
Dhruv Arun

President Donald Trump said he was ready to sanction Russia after Moscow launched its largest air attack against Ukraine since the start of the war on Sunday; setting Kyiv’s government headquarters on fire and killing at least five, including one infant. Forty-four more were injured in the attack that the Ukrainian Defense Department said included over 800 Shahed-type strike drones, 9 Iskander-K cruise missiles and 4 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, which hit residential apartments and set ablaze the main government building where ministers meet. Russia launched its largest aerial assault of the Ukraine war overnight into Sunday, deploying more than 800 drones and striking a government building in Kyiv for the first time. This is the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that its strikes have hit and damaged the government headquarters in the center of the city, which lies close to Zelensky’s office. It was the second mass Russian drone and missile attack to target Kyiv in recent weeks, coming less than a month after Trump's high-stakes peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska failed to achieve a ceasefire.

President Donald Trump signaled on Sunday that his administration is ready to move to the second phase of sanctions against Russia. President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin “very soon." The president also added that: “Over the next couple of days. Look, we’re going to get it done. The Russia-Ukraine situation. We’re going to get it done.” The president also indicated that some European leaders will visit the White House early this week. The president told reporters after stepping off Air Force One, “Certain European leaders are coming over to our country on Monday or Tuesday and individually, and I think we’re going to get that settled.”

Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, wrote on X that Russia, “appears to be escalating,” and that the attack, “was not a signal that Russia wants to diplomatically end this war.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier called on Trump to punish Putin for the devastating attacks. Zelensky said, “Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war.”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has given an update on Russia's overnight air attack. He wrote on social media, “Tragically, across Ukraine four people have been killed and more than 44 injured.” Officials said two people were killed in Kyiv—a mother and a three-month-old baby—while Zelenskyy said earlier one person was killed in Sumy and one in Chernihiv. More than 90 rescuers, 160 police officers and 200 utility workers were working Sunday at the site of the attack in the district of Svyatoshyn in Kyiv.

President Trump said, “I am not thrilled with what’s happening there.” He additionally said, “I believe we’re going to get it settled. But I am not happy with them. I’m not happy with anything having to do with that war.”

Extemp Analysis by: Ty Tan

Question: How will Trump's push for new sanctions shape the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war?

AGD: I would go for a funny AGD about Trump, Putin, Zelenskyy, or anyone else involved. Maybe a clever pun about selling off or something to connect to the idea of trade and sanctions could be nice.

Background: A simple 3 sentence story could work. I would do:

Establishing the current state of the Ukraine-Russia war (and specifically current US sanctions)
Talking about the current ceasefire negotiations occurring and what is making them difficult
Why Trump wants to implement sanctions and what they could mean.

There’s other ways to take it, but I think this simple background assumes little of a judge and works well.

Answer: Your answer could go one of two ways. You either say a little impact and discuss faults of Trump and that form of diplomacy, or you say a major impact. I will be discussing little impact cause I think its more realistic, but it could be argued either way - just don’t take middle ground cause this is extemp.

Answer: Little impact, because it will do little to create peace.

Trump’s Wavering Resolve
Russia’s Shadow Fleet
The Dependence on Global Coordination for Effectiveness

Analysis + Concluding Thoughts

I think these 3 points cover the main things: 1. Trump isn’t likely to raise sanctions or wavers on things if he doesn’t think they’ll give him the big “diplomatic” win he wants, something he is struggling to get in Ukraine. 2. Russia continually sidesteps economic sanctions through their shadow fleet. 3. For sanctions to be effective, global partners also have to divest/place more sanctions, something many nations are not open to doing, or are even doing the opposite.

Analysis should be strong, but I think for a speech like this, rhetoric and a strong build can go a long way to making it interesting.

Happy extemping!