US readies Russia sanctions over Ukraine, unclear if Trump will sign: sources
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
Highlights:
- US officials have prepared package of sanctions on Russia, sources say
- Targets include natural resources and banking entities
- Trump has not decided whether to deploy the sanctions
US officials have finalized 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.
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The official provided no further details.
It was far from clear, however, whether the package will be approved by 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."
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 the United States 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.
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 Kurt Volker, a former US envoy to NATO who was US special representative for Ukraine negotiations during Trump's first term. "This is the next phase of putting some pressure on Russia."
He also has made pro-Moscow statements, falsely blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for starting the conflict and calling him a "dictator."
Meanwhile, Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, has advocated a peace strategy that would cede four Ukrainian regions to Moscow, and has met Putin four times, most recently last week.
But three days after that meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Putin's maximalist demands for a settlement and Moscow's forces have pressed frontline attacks and missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, claiming more civilian casualties.
Reuters reported in March that the United States was drawing up a plan to potentially give Russia sanctions relief but Trump in recent weeks has expressed frustration with Putin's foot-dragging on ending the invasion and last Saturday held a "very productive" one-on-one meeting in the Vatican with Zelenskiy.
The next day, 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.
Volker said that 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 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 United States because of the size of its economy.
