# White House directs officials to draft proposal to lift US sanctions on Russia

Sources say work on so-called ‘options paper’ comes as Trump seeks to restore Moscow ties and end Ukraine war

The United States is drawing up a plan to potentially give Russia sanctions relief as Donald Trump seeks to restore ties with Moscow and stop the war in , a US official and another person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The White House has asked the state and treasury departments to draft a list of sanctions that could be eased for US officials to discuss with Russian representatives in the coming days as part of  on improving diplomatic and economic relations, the sources said.

The sanctions offices are now drawing up a proposal for lifting sanctions on select entities and individuals, including some Russian oligarchs, according to the sources.

So-called options papers are often drafted by officials working on sanctions, but the White House’s specific request for one in recent days underscores Trump and his advisers’ willingness to ease Russian sanctions as part of a potential deal with Moscow.

It was not immediately clear what Washington could specifically seek in return for any sanctions relief.

The White House, the state department, the treasury department and the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Kremlin last year described relations as “below zero” under the administration of Joe Biden, a Democrat who backed  with aid and weapons and imposed tough sanctions on Russia to punish it for its invasion in 2022.

But Trump, who has promised a quick end to the war, has upended US policy swiftly to open talks with Moscow, beginning with a phone call to  on 12 February that was followed by meetings between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Trump in January  if Putin was unwilling to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. But more recently, Trump administration officials have openly acknowledged the possibility of easing sanctions on Moscow.

The treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, last month told Bloomberg Television that Russia could win economic relief, depending on how it approached negotiations in the coming weeks. Trump told reporters last week that Russian sanctions could be eased “at some point”.

The White House asked state and treasury officials to come up with a possible sanctions relief plan before Trump last week extended a state of emergency over the situation in Ukraine, the US sources said.

The state of emergency sanctions certain assets and people involved in Russia’s war. Those measures, imposed by then president Barack Obama’s administration, have been in place since March 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea.

It is unclear which Russian sanctions the Trump administration would consider lifting first.

Trump could issue an executive order that would allow the administration to begin the process of easing some Russian sanctions, but he would also need to seek congressional approval to lift measures on certain entities, said John Smith, a partner at Morrison Foerster law firm and the former head of the treasury department’s office of foreign assets control.

Since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been able to build a wartime economy with  and industrial production. But experts say the country’s economy is vulnerable and in desperate need of western sanctions relief.

Russia says it is open for economic cooperation. The Kremlin said last week that Russia had lots of rare earth metal deposits and was open to doing deals to develop them after Putin held out the possibility of such collaboration with the US.

Any formal economic deal with Moscow would probably require the US to ease sanctions.

Trump has been seeking a minerals deal with Ukraine – home to a trove of lithium deposits and rare earth minerals – as remuneration for billions of dollars in US aid. However, no deal was signed after  between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.
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