US Should Wait For ‘Concrete Steps’ Before Easing Sanctions On Russia, Says Ukraine
By Thomas Moller-Nielsen
(EurActiv) — The US should wait for “concrete steps” from Russia before lifting sanctions, a senior Ukrainian official told Euractiv amid recent reports that Donald Trump could ease restrictive measures on Moscow ahead of further talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Vladyslav Vlasiuk, an adviser on sanctions policy to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that the recent “discussions” about easing sanctions were “expected,” as “sanctions are not a punishment but a means of pressure.”
“The right approach would be to first see concrete steps from the aggressor,” Vlasiuk added. “Easing sanctions in advance while trusting Russia’s goodwill is not an option.”
Vlasiuk’s comments follow a Reuters report on Monday that the White House had tasked State and Treasury Department officials with drawing up plans to lift sanctions on Russia, the majority of which were imposed following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The report, which cited a US official and a person familiar with the matter, said the plan included proposals to ease restrictive measures on both Russian citizens and companies.
In January, Trump threatened to impose further sanctions on Moscow if a “deal” to end the war was not made “soon.”
Following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month, however, Trump and other senior White House officials have repeatedly signalled that sanctions could be eased if progress is made toward a peace deal.
US and Russian officials met twice last month, in Riyadh and in Istanbul, to discuss ending the Ukraine war.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, also said on Tuesday that Russia must be “freed” from sanctions in order for relations between Moscow and Washington to be “normalised,” according to Russia’s state news agency TASS.
However, Peskov said the Kremlin has “not heard any official statements” from the White House about potential sanctions relief and admitted that such discussions at the present moment are “probably premature.”
Washington’s warming relationship with Moscow comes as Trump has become increasingly critical of his Ukrainian counterpart, Zelenskyy, whom he accused of “gambling with WWIII” in a tumultuous exchange in the Oval Office on Friday.
The US also cut military aid to Ukraine late on Monday while Zelenskyy has thus far refrained from signing a deal that would boost US access to his country’s rare minerals.
The EU, meanwhile, passed a 16th round of sanctions on Moscow last month, while European officials have repeatedly pledged to maintain an “independent” sanctions policy.
EU envoys to Brussels will meet to discuss EU-US relations tomorrow, ahead of a special summit of European leaders on Ukraine and defence policy on Thursday.
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