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The Trump administration and the Kremlin are discussing the possible lifting of US sanctions on Russia’s multibillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund, CNN reported, citing Russian state media. Such a move would mark another US concession to Moscow in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters that talks with the United States on lifting sanctions against the state-owned Russian Direct Investment Fund had been “going on for some time,” according to Russian state news agency TASS and Reuters on Wednesday.
“I don’t know what the outcome will be,” Ushakov said. He added that the fund’s chief executive, Kirill Dmitriev, who is also a presidential envoy, was actively engaging with US officials on lifting the sanctions.
The Biden administration imposed the sanctions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, describing the fund as a “known slush fund” for Putin and his inner circle. CNN said it had contacted the White House and the US Department of State for comment.
The New York Times first reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration was considering lifting the sanctions.
President Donald Trump has defended recent concessions to Russia on sanctions. They have drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle in Washington and caused tensions between the United States and its Western allies.
Earlier this month, Trump announced a deal allowing Russian diesel exports to global energy markets and waived a further set of sanctions related to Russian fossil fuel sales that had only recently been signed into law.
The stalled legislation would have imposed tariffs of up to 100% on, among other things, goods imported into the United States from the five largest buyers of Russian crude oil or gas. Revenue from those sales is crucial to funding the Kremlin’s war effort.
The US-Russia diesel deal suspends fuel export sanctions for six months, allowing sales at market prices. Experts have questioned what effect it will have on global diesel markets.
Russia banned diesel exports in early July after Ukrainian drone strikes on its refineries triggered widespread fuel shortages across the country.
Trump cites negotiations and fuel prices
The White House is seeking to ease pressure on oil and diesel prices in the United States ahead of crucial midterm elections next week.
Trump has also said he waived some sanctions on Russia to keep Moscow at the negotiating table. “I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” he wrote in a “Truth Social” post on October 18.
Trump has blamed high global fuel prices on Ukraine and pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to halt attacks on Russian refineries, while Russia continues strikes on Ukrainian towns, cities and energy infrastructure.
Kyiv and Europe concerned about further concessions
There is growing concern in Kyiv and Europe that the Trump administration may make further concessions to Moscow in an effort to persuade Putin to agree to a peace deal.
Zelensky recently told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the waivers had strengthened Putin’s war against Ukraine, while Moscow was failing on the battlefield. Kyiv has long called for tougher sanctions on Russian energy exports.
Last week, Putin said the Kremlin would be ready to resume trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine peace talks after mid-November, following a request from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met the Russian leader in St. Petersburg. During the talks, Putin expressed interest in restoring economic cooperation with the United States.
