US readies Russia sanctions over Ukraine, unclear if Trump will sign, sources say

U S executives have finalized new economic sanctions against Russia including banking and force measures to intensify pressure on Moscow to embrace U S President Donald Trump s efforts to end its war on Ukraine according to three U S executives and a source familiar with the issue The targets include state-owned Russian potential giant Gazprom and major entities involved in the natural tools and banking sectors stated an administration official who like the other sources requested anonymity to discuss the issue US-UKRAINE INCHING TOWARD MINERAL DEAL AMID LAST-MINUTE ROADBLOCKSThe official provided no further details It was far from clear however whether the package will be approved by Trump whose sympathy for Moscow's statements and actions have given way to frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin s spurning of his calls for a ceasefire and peace talks The U S National Precaution Council is trying to coordinate several set of more punitive actions against Russia stated the source familiar with the issue This will have to be signed off by Trump It s totally his call authenticated a second U S official From the beginning the president has been clear about his commitment to achieving a full and comprehensive ceasefire explained National Protection Council Spokesman James Hewitt We do not comment on the details of ongoing negotiations The U S Treasury which implements majority U S sanctions did not respond to a request for comment An approval by Trump of new sanctions which would follow the Wednesday signing of a U S -Ukraine minerals deal that he heavily promoted as part of his peace effort could signify a hardening of his stance towards the Kremlin Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the United States and its allies have added layer upon layer of sanctions on the country While the measures have been painful for Russia's financial sector Moscow has located means to circumvent the sanctions and continue funding its war Trump has been bending over backwards to give Putin every opportunity to say 'Okay we're going to have a ceasefire and an end to the war ' and Putin keeps rejecting him stated Kurt Volker a former U S envoy to NATO who was U S special representative for Ukraine negotiations during Trump's first term This is the next phase of putting various pressure on Russia Putin has been escalating he continued Trump has got the U S and Ukraine now in alignment calling for an immediate and full ceasefire and Putin is now the outlier Since assuming office in January Trump has taken efforts seen as aimed at boosting Russian acceptance of his peace effort including disbanding a Justice Department task force formed to enforce sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin He also has made pro-Moscow statements falsely blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for starting the conflict and calling him a dictator Meanwhile Steve Witkoff Trump s special envoy has advocated a peace strategy that would cede four Ukrainian regions to Moscow and has met Putin four times bulk in the past few days last week But three days after that meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Putin's maximalist demands for a settlement and Moscow s forces have pressed frontline attacks and missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities claiming more civilian casualties Reuters shared in March that the United States was drawing up a plan to potentially give Russia sanctions relief but Trump in fresh weeks has expressed frustration with Putin's foot-dragging on ending the invasion and last Saturday held a very productive one-on-one meeting in the Vatican with Zelenskiy The next day Trump mentioned in a post on his Truth Social platform that he was strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions Sanctions and Tariffs on Russia that would remain until a ceasefire and final peace deal Volker explained that Russia has been earning hard currency that funds its military through oil and gas sales to countries like India and China and that it would be very vital if Trump slapped secondary sanctions on such deals Secondary sanctions are those where one country seeks to punish a second country for trading with a third by barring access to its own sector a particularly powerful tool for the United States because of the size of its business activity