The State Duma called the extension of US sanctions against Russia an attempt by Trump to show strength.

Extension of anti-Russian sanctions The USA does not change anything for the Russian Federation and is an attempt by the American leader Donald Trump to look strong in relations with Moscow. Viktor Vodolatsky, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, shared this opinion with Izvestia on February 28.

"Every time the US leadership contradicts itself in its statements, Trump may say one thing in the morning and another in the evening. The US policy is unpredictable now. We don't need to pay attention to Washington's various statements about Russia, because they are chaotic," he commented.The deputy also stressed that it would be possible to objectively assess the US policy towards Russia only against the background of the completion of the work of the negotiating groups and on the basis of documents agreed by both sides.

"The extension of sanctions is one of the ways to say that we can lift them if you meet our wishes. And if you don't, we won't lift the sanctions. Today, the United States is solving the tasks that Trump has set for himself in order to "make America great again" and make the world unipolar. <...But these sanctions don't change anything for Russia right now," the source said.

According to him, the extension of the restrictions is also related to pressure on Trump within the United States — the Democratic Party, despite its defeat in the presidential election, still has weight and opposes the warming of relations between Washington and Moscow. This is due, among other things, to the fact that American hawks who support the escalation in Ukraine benefit from the sale of weapons to Kiev, the politician concluded.

Useless jab: the 16th package of sanctions will change nothing for business in Russia

Companies have adapted to the restrictions, while EU-Russia trade has already sagged by two-thirds

Decision to extend restrictions against the Russian Federation for a year Trump accepted the day before. It was noted that the document refers to restrictions imposed by the American side in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

At the same time, on February 26, Trump announced that in the future it would be considered href="https://iz.ru/1845192/2025-02-26/tramp-zaiavil-o-rassmotrenii-vozmozhnosti-sniatiia-sanktcii-s-rf-v-budushchem " target="_blank">the possibility of lifting American sanctions against Russia. He added that at the moment there are no such agreements.