Trump is ready to tighten sanctions against Russia to stop the war.

US President Donald Trump is ready to tighten sanctions against Russia to end its war against Ukraine, said Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg. He rated Russia’s pain resulting from current sanctions “only a three” on a ten-point scale.

According to Kellogg, the goal is to end the violence before starting negotiation of a peace settlement since “you can’t get out of this war by killing.” He added that Russia is prepared for a war of attrition, so the pressure cannot be simply military. “You have to apply economic, diplomatic, and military pressure…” he explained. Both sides, Kellogg again noted, will have to make concessions.

At the same time, the US Department of Justice has disbanded the Task Force KleptoCapture unit, created in 2022 to enforce sanctions and prosecute Russian oligarchs. This came against the backdrop of Trump’s statements regarding his intention to improve relations with Moscow.

In Ukraine, the general consensus is that it is too early to draw any alarming conclusions from this.