▲ Tankers moored at the port of Saint Petersburg (The photo above is not related to the content of the article.)
Following its decision to allow the export of Russian diesel, the U.S. administration under Donald Trump is considering additional easing of sanctions against Russia, The New York Times (NYT) reported on October 27 (local time).
According to the report, the subject under review for sanction removal is the multibillion-dollar Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's sovereign wealth fund.
A U.S. official confirmed to the NYT that the Trump administration is reviewing a request to lift sanctions on the RDIF as part of efforts to "improve U.S.-Russia relations and help end the war in Ukraine."
The official also praised Kirill Aleksandrovich Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF and an economic envoy and close confidant of Putin, as a "helpful envoy" to U.S. negotiators during discussions to end the war.
The fund has been regarded as a prominent illicit slush fund for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a symbol of Russian corrupt politics.
The United States designated the fund as a target of sanctions immediately after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Dmitriev was also placed on the sanctions list.
The NYT pointed out that this measure "shows how Russia uses recent active diplomatic activities for ending the war to promote agendas that seem to have little to do with peace."
It also noted that lifting sanctions on the RDIF "would significantly undermine years of U.S. efforts to elicit changes in Russia's behavior through economic pressure," adding that "the fund has often invested billions of dollars in Russian companies alongside investors from the Middle East and other regions, pushing to expand Russia's global influence."
The review of lifting sanctions on this fund coincides with the so-called "diesel deal" between Presidents Trump and Putin, which allowed Russian diesel to be exported to the U.S. and other countries.
A key Russian official stated that the fund is currently playing a leading role in implementing the diesel deal.
It provided significant support in coordinating the shipment and transport of Russian diesel to the U.S. after President Trump suspended related sanctions on the 9th.
Trump's camp believes that negotiating business deals with President Putin now helps end the war by showing Putin that the U.S. is serious about building a new and prosperous relationship with Russia.
However, critics of the easing of sanctions against Russia, including some Republican lawmakers, believe this approach concedes economic benefits rather than exerting pressure to end the war.
Eric Green, who oversaw Russia policy at the White House National Security Council under the previous administration, criticized to the NYT that lifting sanctions on the fund would send "a very powerful message that the U.S. is backing away from its previous stance of not lifting sanctions on Russia until the war in Ukraine is resolved."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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