Congress, White House Urge Trump for New Russia Sanctions

Some Republican lawmakers in Congress and White House advisers are urging US President Donald Trump to finally approve new sanctions against Russia.

The Gaze reports on this with reference to Reuters.

White House officials say Trump still hopes to develop an economic partnership with Russia and sees sanctions as escalating tensions with Moscow, which could destroy hopes for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

But, according to Trump's advisers, his disappointment with Putin is ‘genuine and growing.’ They also added that Trump is seriously considering imposing sanctions after Russia intensified its attacks in recent days.

‘He (Trump – ed.) is always looking for different ways to apply pressure. He always weighs his options,’ said a senior White House official.

It is noted that US officials have already prepared new economic sanctions against Russia, including banking and energy restrictions. According to them, the sanctions package is ready for approval based on Trump's decree.

Another option supported by some of Trump's advisers is for the president to approve or at least not obstruct a bill introduced last month by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.

This document imposes a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil.

Some of Trump's advisers believe that this bill could be useful because it would allow the next sanctions to take effect, and Trump could essentially tell Putin that the decision on sanctions was not in his hands.

According to the publication's sources, the White House believes that secondary sanctions — that is, sanctions against countries that do business with Russia, not just against Russia itself — are necessary for the restrictive measures to be effective.

Meanwhile, Graham and his fellow Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, close allies of Trump, said this week that it was time to increase pressure on Putin.

As reported by Ukrinform yesterday, 

As The Gaze reported earlier, as diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine continue to stall, the United States appears ready to unleash a new wave of powerful economic sanctions against Russia, should Vladimir Putin be deemed the primary barrier to peace.

At the same time, on 28 May, the US president said he would not tighten sanctions against Russia so as not to jeopardise negotiations to end the war.