Donald Trump is reportedly drawing plans to give Russia sanctions relief, sources have said. We’ll be bringing you the latest updates on this Breaking Politics News story.
Donald Trump is reportedly drawing up plans to give Russia sanctions relief, sources have said.
The reports emerged hours after the US President shocked the world by pausing US aid to Ukraine. He also mounted an attack on European leaders for calling for US support against Vladimir Putin and criticised Volodymyr Zelensky for suggesting a deal to end the war with Russia “is still very, very far away”.
The US is now said to be looking to repair relations with Moscow by giving Russia sanctions relief, a US official and another person close the matter told Reuters. It could mean some Russian oligarchs get relief. The White House is said to have asked for a list of sanctions to be written up that could be relaxed which would then be discussed with Russian representatives in the coming days.
And confirming a pause on aid, a White House official on Monday said Mr Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal and wants “committed” to that goal. The official said the US was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution”.
It comes after a tense Oval Office bust-up which saw Mr Trump and his sidekick JD Vance launch a vile diatribe at Mr Zelensky last week. In a statement on his social media platform Truth Social, the US President last night criticised the Ukraine President for saying peace was still far off.
He wrote: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer. It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelensky, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US – probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
He later added that European countries had “acted very well” and were “good people”. “We’re going to make deals with everybody to get this war (finished), including Europe and European nations. And they’ve acted very well. You know, they’re good people … they want to work it out,” Mr Trump said at the White House.
Mr Vance also launched a fresh attack on Mr Zelensky, accusing him of “needling” Mr Trump and having a “certain sense of entitlement” as the US President paused aid to Ukraine. He suggested Mr Zelensky showed a “clear unwillingness” to engage in Mr Trump’s peace plan but he added the “door is open” so long as “Zelensky is willing to seriously talk peace”. It comes after fears were sparked that Ukraine would be locked out of peace talks about Mr Trump organised a chat with Putin before Mr Zelensky.
A minister on Tuesday morning said diplomacy cannot be done “over the airwaves” when asked whether there were concerns about Mr Trump’s announcement of a pause in US military aid to Ukraine. Housing minister Alex Norris insisted the UK Government could not provide commentary on “every twist and turn” in the process as he faced questions about whether the US president’s decision was acceptable.
Mr Norris told Times Radio: “We’re absolutely committed to securing a lasting peace in Ukraine. We’re engaging with our allies in support of that goal. We’ve made significant commitments to Ukraine, that’s what we’ll continue to do, all in pursuit of a lasting peace, which will be achieved through putting Ukraine in a strong position.” Asked whether the decision was morally acceptable, Mr Norris said: “US military spending is a decision for the United States. All of us, I think, are committed to securing that lasting peace.”
