US refuses to increase sanctions against Russia - Bloomberg
European officials say that the administration of US President Donald Trump has reduced its involvement in efforts to impose sanctions on Russia.
According to Censor.NET, Bloomberg reports this.
In particular, it is noted that the United States was absent or did not respond to several working groups focused on the application of sanctions, including those that prohibited Russia from receiving weapons parts and controlled the G7 price caps on Russian oil.
According to the officials, who preferred not to be named, the USA was virtually absent from several working groups set up by allies to combat attempts to circumvent sanctions imposed on Russia. In addition, the United States has largely been unresponsive to the activities of one group, which focuses on preventing Russians from obtaining parts and equipment used to make weapons. Another group in which the United States is silent concerns monitoring and enforcing the price cap on Russian oil set by the G7.
The officials said they were unclear whether the US had made an active decision to reduce its participation or whether it simply lacked key personnel. The newspaper's interlocutors added that some of the meetings were attended by junior officials who do not have sufficient decision-making authority.
The US Treasury Department declined to comment on the situation.
Since the sanctions regime took shape in 2022, the United States and its allies have established a number of working groups and task forces to coordinate their enforcement efforts. All of them see limiting Moscow's access to technology and parts needed for warfare goods as a priority, and pay particular attention to cutting off trade routes through third countries, such as the United Arab Emirates and India, that Russia uses.
This work includes joint activities, sanctions against companies in third countries that help Moscow, and diplomatic pressure on these countries to close trade routes. The United Kingdom, the European Union and other G-7 allies continue to coordinate these efforts, the officials said.
As a reminder, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that his country could block further EU sanctions against Russia if, in his opinion, they threaten the peaceful settlement of the war in Ukraine.
