Putin's war machine gains billions as senators accuse Trump of sanctions failure
Donald Trump, President of the United States (photo: Getty Images)
Several US Democratic senators believe that the Trump administration is weakly enforcing sanctions against Russia's Arctic LNG-2 export terminal, according to a statement by four members of the US Senate, Reuters reports.
Senators noted that since August, the operator of Arctic LNG 2, Novatek (NVTK.MM), which is partly owned by close allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has sold around 14 LNG cargoes, offering Chinese buyers discounts of roughly 30–40%.
"This is just the latest example of Donald Trump failing to put pressure on Putin and bring Russia to the negotiating table," the statement by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Tim Kaine, Chris Van Hollen, and Angela Alsobrooks said.
They stressed that LNG sales from Arctic LNG 2 are an "energy revenue stream worth billions for Putin's war machine that had previously been disrupted by consistent, targeted US sanctions.”
Former President Joe Biden first imposed sanctions on the Arctic LNG 2 project at the end of 2023.
The senators added that Congress should require a review of any proposed easing of US sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine "instead of letting Trump cede the rest of our critical leverage."
New US sanctions
US President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on Russia in October. They targeted Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.
The restrictions forced Indian refineries to stop buying Russian oil.
On November 11, it also became known that one of China's largest refineries is halting purchases of Russian oil.
