Biden Sanctioned Putin's 'Slush Fund' After War. Trump Is Ready To Drop It

Washington: Russia is using talks meant to end the war in Ukraine to pursue something else -- getting sanctions lifted on one of its most powerful financial instruments of global influence. The Trump administration, which has been negotiating business deals with Moscow, is now considering the request to lift sanctions on the Russian Direct Investment Fund -- a move that could significantly unwind years of American efforts to use economic pressure to change Russia's behaviour, according to a New York Post report. Quoting people familiar with the negotiations, the NYT reported that Russian officials have pressed for the move as part of broader talks over the fund's role in shipping Russian diesel to the United States.A US official also confirmed to the publication that the Donald Trump administration was assessing the fund's application for delisting through established procedures as part of an effort to "improve US-Russia relations and help end the war." The official also reportedly labelled the fund's chief, Kirill Dmitriev, "a helpful envoy" to US negotiators.The report came after Team Trump waived key Russia-related US sanctions and tariffs -- including duties on the country's goods and penalties for buying its oil and gas -- that had been scheduled to start this month under the legislation known as the Graham Act. The new consideration is just another example of how the Kremlin has been using a flurry of diplomacy over Ukraine to advance an agenda that appears to have little to do with peace.According to the report, Trump's envoys and President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks have also discussed several other projects, including the sale of part of a Russian oil giant to a well-connected investor group, an effort to produce natural gas in Alaska -- a project from which several executives reportedly parted ways amid concerns about hidden Russian financing--, and a proposal to raise Russian gas exports to Europe that has stunned European governments.About the Russian Direct Investment Fund The fund has invested billions of dollars in Russian companies, often alongside investors from the Middle East and elsewhere, pushing to expand Russia's global influence.It was sanctioned by the Biden administration days after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, calling it "a slush fund" for Putin and "emblematic of Russia's broader kleptocracy". Eric Green, who oversaw Russia policy at the National Security Council then, reportedly said the fund was an early target because its access to Western finance could help bankroll the war and because of its links to projects closely identified with Putin.Removing the sanctions, he said, would send a "real strong message" that Washington was relaxing its position that economic penalties would stay until a Ukraine settlement.Why US Is Lifting SanctionsThe fund is now central to Trump's diesel deal, helping arrange the first Russian diesel shipments to the United States after Trump suspended sanctions on the fuel on October 9, a senior Russian official told the NYT.Dmitriev, who heads the fund, has served as Putin's economic envoy, pitching US officials on the promise of business with Russia. "It's been really, really good dealing with Kirill," Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, told Putin in St Petersburg last week.The Trump team believes business deals can help end the war by showing Putin that Washington wants a prosperous new relationship. Critics, including some Republican lawmakers, however, believe that Trump is handing Putin economic benefits without pressing him to stop fighting.But despite Trump's warm rhetoric toward Putin, he has so far left nearly all Biden-era sanctions in place.