М-68

САЖАТЬ/ПОСАДИТЬ НА МЕЛЬ кого-что coll VP subj: human obj: human or collect usu. pfv ) to put s.o. (or some organization) in a very troublesome, difficult position ( usu. because of a lack of funds or other material resources)

X посадил Y-a на мель - X got Y into trouble

X put Y in a tight spot X put (got) Y into a fix (a predicament, a bind).