Pressure builds on Trump over Russia sanctions, Reuters reveals new details
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
Some Republicans in Congress and White House advisers are calling on US President Donald Trump to finally adopt new sanctions against Russia as frustration peaks over the invasion of Ukraine, reports Reuters.
White House officials say that Trump still hopes to develop an economic partnership with Russia.
“ He sees sanctions as an escalation in tensions with Moscow that could derail hopes of a ceasefire in the three-year-old conflict. But his frustration with Putin is genuine and increasingly severe,” the media writes, citing aides.
They clarified that Trump is seriously considering imposing sanctions after Russia stepped up its attacks in recent days.
“He is always looking at different ways to apply pressure. This is no different. He's always weighing his options,” a senior White House official said.
US officials have prepared new economic sanctions against Russia, including banking and energy measures. They say that the package of sanctions is ready to be implemented based on Trump's order.
What the US could sanction
One option favored by some Trump advisers would be for the president to approve, or at least not obstruct, a bill introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal last month that would impose a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil.
“Some advisers believe the bill could be useful because it would allow consequential sanctions to go into effect while Trump could in essence tell Putin the sanctions decision was out of his hands... That in turn could help Trump maintain a viable line of communication with Putin,” the journalists write, citing the US official.
This source and another one familiar with internal discussions said that the White House believes that secondary sanctions - meaning, sanctions on countries that do business with Russia, not just Russia - are necessary to be effective.
Graham and his fellow Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, both close Trump allies, said this week that now is the time to increase pressure on Putin.
US sanctions against Russia
US President Donald Trump has delayed imposing such sanctions for months, believing that he could have fruitful negotiations with Putin to end the war in Ukraine and considering sanctions unnecessary and often ineffective.
But commenting on the latest massive attacks against Ukraine, Trump said that Washington was considering sanctions against Russia.
Trump himself is not particularly satisfied with Putin's behavior and the inability to quickly end the war in Ukraine. In early May, the WSJ reported that Trump was disappointed that he was unable to end the war in Ukraine quickly. It turned out to be more difficult to resolve than he thought.
