President Trump does not want to tighten sanctions on Russia
The US President noted that he hopes to reach agreements on Ukraine soon.
According to TASS on June 17, US President Donald Trump said that he does not want to tighten sanctions against Russia, hoping to reach an agreement on Ukraine.
On the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis (Alberta, Canada), journalists asked the US leader why he did not impose new restrictions on Moscow. President Trump said: "Because I am waiting for an agreement on a peaceful solution in Ukraine to be signed soon. Don't forget, sanctions cost us a lot of money. When I impose sanctions on any country, the United States will have to pay a lot of money, a lot. Sign an agreement to resolve the conflict. We are talking about billions of dollars. Sanctions are not that easy. This is not a one-way street."
According to the White House owner, "money has nothing to do with this." Mr. Trump expressed that he would be "very happy" if he could prevent the conflict.
"You might ask, what am I doing? But I want to see if I can prevent a conflict," Mr. Trump said.
Asked to comment on calls from some European countries for additional restrictions on Russia, Mr Trump said: "Europe says it. But Europe hasn't done anything yet. Let them do it first."
In early April 2025, a bipartisan group of US Senate members introduced a bill with sanctions against Russia. The initiative also provides for secondary restrictions on Moscow's trading partners. The US senators' proposal provides for a 500% tax on imports to the US from countries that buy oil, gas, uranium and other goods from Russia.
A similar initiative has been introduced in the US House of Representatives. Senator Rand Paul (Republican, from Kentucky) warned that "the country that will suffer the most" as a result of the bill's approval would be the US itself - "both economically and strategically".