The Trump administration has prepared additional sanctions that could be applied against key sectors of the Russian economy if President Vladimir Putin continues to delay ending Moscow's war in Ukraine, Reuters reports, citing its sources.
This week, Trump imposed sanctions on Russia for the first time since the beginning of his second term. They were aimed at the largest Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. At the same time, the US president canceled a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest.
According to "Reuters", US officials have also informed their European counterparts that they support a plan by EU countries to use frozen Russian assets to buy US weapons for Kiev.
In addition, Washington has begun discussing the possibility of using Russian assets held in the United States to provide military support to Ukraine, according to two US sources.
It is not clear whether Washington will take any of these steps in the near future, but it suggests that the administration has a well-developed set of levers to further raise the stakes after Trump imposed sanctions on Russia, the agency notes.
"European allies, tormented by Trump's oscillations between conciliation and anger at Putin, hope that he will continue to increase pressure on Moscow and are also considering serious actions of their own country," the article said.
A U.S. official told Reuters that he wanted European allies to take the next major step toward Russia, which could include additional sanctions or tariffs. Another source said Trump would likely take a few weeks off to assess Russia's response to the sanctions announced on Wednesday.
Some of the additional sanctions being prepared by the United States could target Russia's banking sector and the infrastructure used to deliver oil to the market, the sources told Reuters.
Last week, Ukrainian officials approached the United States with a proposal for new sanctions, a source told Reuters. Among the ideas presented were measures to exclude all Russian banks from the dollar system. It was not clear how seriously Ukraine's demands were being taken, the agency noted.