US President Donald Trump is considering imposing sanctions against Russia this week, the Wall Street Journal newspaper reported citing sources in the US president’s entourage.
According to the newspaper, additional sanctions against the Russian banking sector are not among those under discussion. The goal of the new sanctions is to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to make concessions, including agreeing to a 30-day ceasefire, which the US president insists on. No final decision on the new sanctions has been made yet, Donald Trump may refuse to impose them.
Trump said on May 25 that he was definitely considering new sanctions against Russia and criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he did not understand what had happened to the Russian leader: “we are in the process of negotiations and he is hitting Kiev and other cities with missiles. I don’t like that at all.” This comment from Donald Trump comes after reports of massive Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities.
According to the Wall Street Journal, for weeks Donald Trump has not heeded calls to increase pressure on Vladimir Putin for refusing to go along with the ceasefire. One of Trump’s key considerations, according to US officials, was his belief that he knew Putin well and the Russian leader would end the war as a weasel. The US president’s views began to change after a phone call with Vladimir Putin last week, during which Putin made it clear he was not ready for a truce with Ukraine.
At the same time in the US Senate, a bill introduced by Trump ally Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal that would impose new sanctions on Russia and high import duties on products from countries that import Russian oil, gas and uranium has been given the go-ahead. They have already secured overwhelming support in the Senate.