The US sanctions regime against Russia has weakened under the current administration in Washington, led by President Donald Trump, according to a report by US Democratic senators released on Tuesday.
The document, prepared by members of the upper house of Congress Jean Shaheen (Democrat of New Hampshire) and Elizabeth Warren (Democrat of Massachusetts), states that after Trump took office, Washington “immediately stopped imposing major sanctions and implementing export controls that support and increase US pressure“ on Russia. According to the lawmakers, the current Republican administration “has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of willingness to support effective sanctions“ against Russia.
The senators believe that under Trump, the United States failed to seize the opportunity to impose additional restrictions on Russian oil supplies. In addition, according to the lawmakers, oversight of the US sanctions regime against Russia has weakened due to the current administration's staff reductions in some departments, including the State Department, as well as the Treasury, Commerce and Justice Departments.
“This threatens to undermine our ability to maintain and strengthen sanctions and export controls“, Shaheen and Warren stressed. The report states that only two employees remain in the State Department unit that coordinates sanctions policy. No official head of this unit has been appointed.
In early July, Shaheen, Warren, and Democratic Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) said they would conduct an audit due to the fact that the Trump administration has not imposed new sanctions on the Russian defense industry since its inception. The report was prepared based on the results of this audit.
On July 14, Trump announced that the United States would impose import tariffs of approximately 100% on Russia and its trading partners if Moscow and Washington did not reach an agreement to resolve the conflict in Ukraine within 50 days. On July 29, Trump said that he had decided to reduce this period to 10 days. On August 5, Trump noted that the United States would later decide whether to impose the aforementioned import tariffs. According to him, further steps by the United States would depend on the outcome of the upcoming negotiations of his special envoy Stephen Witkoff in Moscow.