US may impose additional sanctions on Russia, but is waiting for Europe to step up pressure - Reuters
The administration of US President Donald Trump has prepared additional sanctions that could be imposed on key sectors of the Russian economy if Putin continues to delay ending Russia's war in Ukraine.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by Reuters.
US officials have also told their European counterparts that they support the EU using frozen Russian assets to purchase American weapons for Kyiv, and Washington has held preliminary internal discussions on using Russian assets held in the US to support Ukraine's military efforts.
Although it is unclear whether Washington will actually take any of these steps in the near future, it shows that the administration has a well-developed set of tools to further raise the stakes after Trump imposed sanctions on Russian oil companies for the first time since returning to office in January.
European allies, who are dealing with Trump's back-and-forth between being nice and mad at Putin, are hoping he'll keep putting pressure on Moscow, and are also thinking about some serious moves of their own.
The US is waiting for Europe to take action
One senior US official told Reuters that he would like European allies to take the next big step on Russia, which could involve additional sanctions or tariffs. Another source familiar with the administration's internal dynamics said Trump would likely pause for a few weeks and assess Russia's reaction to the October 22 sanctions announcement against Rosneft and Lukoil.
In addition, some US lawmakers are renewing attempts to push through a long-stalled bipartisan sanctions bill. A person familiar with the administration's internal dynamics said Trump is willing to support the package. However, the source cautioned that such support is unlikely this month.
