Some Republicans in the US Congress and White House advisers are pressuring President Donald Trump to support new sanctions against Moscow.
Reuters reports this, citing sources.
For several months of his presidency, Trump has refrained from imposing new sanctions on Russia, believing that doing so could foster a productive relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. And he generally views sanctions as an overused and often ineffective tool, Reuters notes.
White House officials say Trump still hopes to develop an economic partnership with Russia. He sees the sanctions as an escalation of tensions with Moscow, saying they could derail hopes for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. But aides say Trump’s frustration with Putin is genuine and growing. They note that Trump is seriously considering imposing sanctions on Russia after Russia’s recent devastating attacks on Ukraine.
"Heʼs constantly looking at different ways to put pressure. This is no exception. Heʼs always weighing his options," a senior White House official said.
The US officials have already prepared a new package of economic sanctions against Russia, which includes measures in the banking and energy sectors. They say these sanctions are ready — they just need the Trump team to implement them.
One option, supported by some Trump advisers, is to not block the passage of the “devastating sanctions” bill proposed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. It would impose 500 percent tariffs on imports from countries that buy Russian oil, petroleum products, natural gas or uranium. In addition, the sanctions would prohibit US citizens from buying Russian government bonds.
Some advisers see the bill as useful because it would allow for significant sanctions against Russia. And Trump could tell Putin that he has no direct control over the decision. According to one US official with direct knowledge of the matter, it could allow Trump to maintain a working channel of communication with Putin.
The same official and another person familiar with internal discussions said that the White House considers secondary sanctions (that is, against countries that do business with Russia, not just against Russia itself) necessary for the sanctions pressure to be truly effective.
Senator Graham and his colleague Chuck Grassley — both Republicans close to Trump — said this week that it was time to increase pressure on Putin.
“I believe President Trump was sincere when he thought his friendship with Putin would end the war. But now that it hasn’t worked, it’s time to impose sanctions that will make Putin understand, ʼGame Over,’” Grassley wrote.
In recent months, Republicans have generally followed Trumpʼs foreign policy course. Therefore, their initiative on sanctions without a direct initiative from the president is a notable step.
At the same time, Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose sanctions on Russia, but has not yet done so. After the massive attacks on May 24-25, Trump declared that Putin had “absolutely gone crazy” and was “killing people unnecessarily”. At the same time, he confirmed that he did not rule out imposing sanctions on Russia, although he had previously opposed it.
What preceded
On May 16, the first direct talks between Ukraine and Russia since 2022 were held in Istanbul. The meeting lasted a little over an hour. According to journalists, Russia demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from a number of territories to ensure a ceasefire and threatened to occupy Kharkiv and Sumy regions, as well as fight "to the end".
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reported that at the meeting, the Ukrainian and Russian sides discussed a prisoner exchange in the "1000 for 1000" format and a ceasefire. The parties reached an agreement on the exchange — three prisoner exchanges in this format have already taken place.
On May 19, Trump spoke with Putin, as well as with Zelensky and a number of European leaders. Putin said after the conversation that he was ready to work on a memorandum with Ukraine that includes a ceasefire. Trump says that Russia and Ukraine “will immediately begin negotiations on a ceasefire and, more importantly, an end to the war”.
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