US prepares extra Russia sanctions, wants Europe to up pressure

US President Donald Trump’s administration has prepared additional sanctions it could use to target key areas of Russia’s economy if President Vladimir Putin continues to delay ending Moscow’s war in Ukraine, according to a US official and another person familiar with the matter.

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US officials have also told European counterparts that they support the EU using frozen Russian assets to buy US weapons for Kyiv, and Washington has held nascent internal conversations about leveraging Russian assets held in the US to support Ukraine’s war effort, two US officials said.

While it is not clear whether Washington will actually carry out any of those moves in the immediate term, it shows there is a well-developed toolkit within the administration to up the ante further after Mr Trump imposed sanctions on Russia on Oct 22 for the first time since returning to office in January.

European allies — buffeted by Mr Trump’s swings between accommodation and anger towards Mr Putin — hope he keeps upping the pressure on Moscow, and are also mulling over major actions of their own.

One senior US official told Reuters that he would like to see European allies make the next big Russia move, which could be additional sanctions or tariffs.

A separate source with knowledge of internal administration dynamics said Mr Trump was likely to hit pause for a few weeks and gauge Russia’s reaction to the Oct 22 sanctions announcement.

Those sanctions took aim at oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.