The US wants to ease sanctions against Russia – Reuters
3 March 2025 22:39
The United States is considering easing anti-Russian sanctions. This comes amid President Donald Trump’s desire to restore relations with Moscow. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Reuters.
According to the sources, the White House has instructed the State Department and the Treasury Department to prepare a list of sanctions that could be eased so that US officials can discuss the issue with Russian representatives in the coming days as part of the administration’s broader talks with Moscow to improve diplomatic and economic relations.
The newspaper’s sources claim that sanctions agencies are currently preparing proposals to lift restrictions on certain Russian companies and individuals, including some oligarchs.
The journalists point out that such a request from the White House emphasizes the willingness of Trump and his advisers to ease Russian sanctions as part of a potential deal with Moscow.
The newspaper’s sources claim that the White House asked for a list of sanctions that could be eased even before US President Donald Trump extended the restrictions against Russia for a year last week.
The White House, the State Department, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Russian Embassy in Washington refrained from commenting to the authors of the article
According to experts, Trump may issue an executive order that will allow him to begin the process of easing some sanctions. However, to lift certain restrictions, he needs the consent of Congress, explains John Smith, former head of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
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Trump’s position on Ukraine
During the election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly said that he would stop the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. This deadline has already passed.
Also during the election, the media spread the so-called “Trump Plan”. The plan was that the United States would use its influence to stop the war, taking into account the status quo. To do this, Trump would force Putin and Zelenskyy to sit down at the negotiating table. If Putin does not agree to negotiate, the United States will give Ukraine all the weapons it needs to win on the battlefield. If Zelenskyy refuses to negotiate, the United States will completely stop helping Ukraine.
This plan, in its various variations, included a provision that Russia would retain the territories it temporarily occupied and that Ukraine would not join NATO.
However, later Trump seemed to “forget” about this plan. In particular, he voiced scenarios in which he would force Russia to capitulate due to the decline in world oil prices.
After Trump was elected President of the United States, one of his advisors, Brian Lanza, said that Ukraine should forget about Crimea. Trump’s entourage, however, was quick to deny this statement and said that Lanza could not speak on his behalf.
Currently, the US Special Representative for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is talking about 100 days within which he wants to reach some kind of agreement. Of these, 37 days have already passed. During this time, the US Presidential Administration has established contact with the Kremlin, an American envoy has traveled to Moscow, and a meeting of the highest level negotiators has taken place in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine was not present at this meeting.
Meanwhile, in exchange for military support, US President Donald Trump demanded $500 billion worth of rare earth metals from Ukraine. He said that the US should have access to Ukraine’s natural resources, regardless of whether Kyiv manages to reach a peace agreement with Russia.
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