US readies Russia sanctions over Ukraine, but unclear if Trump will sign, sources say
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Rescuers carrying the body of a victim at the site of a Russian missile attack in Kyiv on April 24 that killed 12 people.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - US officials have finalised new economic sanctions against Russia, including banking and energy measures, to intensify pressure on Moscow to embrace US President Donald Trump’s efforts to end its war on Ukraine, according to three US officials and a source familiar with the issue.
The targets include state-owned Russian energy giant Gazprom and major entities involved in the natural resources and banking sectors, said an administration official who, like the other sources, requested anonymity to discuss the issue.
The official provided no further details.
It was far from clear, however, whether the package will be approved by Mr Trump, whose sympathy for Moscow's statements and actions have given way to frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spurning of his calls for a ceasefire and peace talks.
The US National Security Council “is trying to coordinate some set of more punitive actions against Russia”, said the source familiar with the issue. “This will have to be signed off by Trump.”
“It’s totally his call,” confirmed a second US official.
“From the beginning, the President has been clear about his commitment to achieving a full and comprehensive ceasefire,” said National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt. “We do not comment on the details of ongoing negotiations.”
The US Treasury, which implements most US sanctions, did not respond to a request for comment.
An approval by Mr Trump of new sanctions, which would follow the April 30 signing
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the US and its allies have added layer upon layer of sanctions on the country. While the measures have been painful for Russia's economy, Moscow has found ways to circumvent the sanctions and continue funding its war.
Mr Trump “has been bending over backwards to give Putin every opportunity to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to have a ceasefire and an end to the war’, and Putin keeps rejecting him,” said Mr Kurt Volker, a former US envoy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation who was US special representative for Ukraine negotiations during Mr Trump’s first term.
“This is the next phase of putting some pressure on Russia.”
“Putin has been escalating,” he continued. Mr Trump “has got the US and Ukraine now in alignment calling for an immediate and full ceasefire, and Putin is now the outlier”.
Since assuming office in January, Mr Trump has taken steps seen as aimed at boosting Russian acceptance of his peace effort, including disbanding a Justice Department task force formed to enforce sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin.
He also has made pro-Moscow statements, falsely blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the conflict and calling him a “dictator”.
Meanwhile, Mr Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s special envoy, has advocated a peace strategy that would cede four Ukrainian regions to Moscow, and has met Mr Putin four times, most recently last week.
But three days after that meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Mr Putin's maximalist demands for a settlement and Moscow’s forces have pressed front-line attacks and missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, claiming more civilian casualties.
Reuters reported in March that the US was drawing up a plan to potentially give Russia sanctions relief, but Mr Trump in recent weeks has expressed frustration with Mr Putin's foot-dragging on ending the invasion and on April 26 held a “very productive” one-on-one meeting in the Vatican
US President Donald Trump (left) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral, at St Peter’s Basilica on April 26.
PHOTO: AFP
The next day, Mr Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that he was “strongly considering large-scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions and Tariffs on Russia” that would remain until a ceasefire and final peace deal.
Mr Volker said Russia has been earning hard currency that funds its military through oil and gas sales to countries like India and China, and that it would be “very significant” if Mr Trump slapped secondary sanctions on such deals.
Secondary sanctions are those where one country seeks to punish a second country for trading with a third by barring access to its own market, a particularly powerful tool for the US because of the size of its economy. REUTERS
