Americanist made a prediction about the fate of anti-Russian sanctions under Trump

US President-elect Donald Trump may lift part of the anti-Russian sanctions in case of successful negotiations with Moscow. This was stated by American political scientist Malek Dudakov on Friday, January 10.

According to the expert, if certain agreements are reached, Trump may also return some Russian assets.

"Immediately after Trump's inauguration, there will be no lifting of sanctions. This issue, as well as the issue of assets, will be used as a leverage in negotiations, and the outcome depends on what these negotiations will lead to," Dudakov said in a conversation with Lenta.Ru.

The political scientist noted that currently the situation on the battlefield is in Russia's favor, so the U.S. has no military leverage to pressure the country, but it has economic leverage. According to Dudakov, if negotiations between Moscow and Washington lead to de-escalation of the conflict, some of the sanctions may be lifted, and some of the assets may be returned.

He also admitted that the Trump administration may put the Ukrainian issue aside and shift responsibility for it to the Europeans.

"Already now European "hawks" declare their readiness to support Ukraine on their own, without US participation, but their military resources have been depleted," the political analyst concluded.

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Earlier in the day, the British newspaper Financial Times (FT) reported that the European Union (EU) is worried that Trump, after taking office, may lift the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the current President of the United States Joe Biden, reports 360.ru.

According to the publication, the association fears that Trump will cancel decisions on restrictions only because they were made by his predecessor, writes Life.Ru. About how the lifting of sanctions will affect his European allies, the elected American leader is unlikely to think about. At the same time, as the newspaper emphasizes, the refusal of restrictions has the potential to overturn the current situation in international trade and relations.

Against this backdrop, senior European Commission (EC) officials have ordered a review of Biden's executive orders on sanctions that Trump could lift, with content ranging from trade to cybersecurity, according to the kp.ru website. The aim of this work is to understand which of these restrictions, if abandoned, would have the strongest impact on the EU. The association wants to keep the restrictions in order to use them in its favor in possible negotiations with Russia on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, reports NSN.

On January 9, Reuters, citing an unnamed official, reported that Biden may announce a new package of anti-Russian sanctions this week, RT reported. There are no details yet, but the new list of restrictions is supposedly needed to strengthen Ukraine's negotiating position.

The New York Times reported on December 11, 2024 that Trump may unblock Moscow's frozen assets and lift anti-Russian sanctions, which also includes changing the terms of the loan to Kiev allocated by Washington under Biden.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Nov. 7 that the volume of Western anti-Russian sanctions is unparalleled in history, but they have not dealt Russia "a crushing blow from which it will not be able to recover." He emphasized that in fact, the Russian Federation is needed by the world and any decisions either in Washington or Brussels cannot affect this.

Western countries increased sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation after the start of the special operation to protect civilians in Donbass, which was announced on February 24, 2022.