NATO called the new sanctions against Russia the obvious next step of the United States.

New US sanctions against Russia will be an "obvious" step by Washington to try to end the conflict in Ukraine. This was announced on August 5 by Matthew Whitaker, Permanent Representative of the United States to NATO.

"Secondary sanctions and duties against <...> China, India and Brazil, which buy oil produced by Russia, are the obvious next step in an attempt to try to end the <conflict>," he said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Whitaker noted that US President Donald Trump plans to "play this card", despite the effectiveness of the Russian Federation in resisting Western restrictions.

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On July 14, Trump announced his intention to impose 100% secondary duties on Russia if a Ukrainian settlement could not be reached in 50 days. Later, he reduced this period to 10-12 days.

On July 31, the American leader stressed that the United States would impose anti-Russian sanctions after the expiration of the 10-day period, but this was unlikely to have an impact on the position of the Russian Federation and the situation with the settlement of the conflict.

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