Russians demand Crimea sanctions lifted upon Trump victory

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a greeting card on Nov. 9 to Donald Trump to congratulate him on his victory, expressing “his confidence that a dialogue between Kremlin and Washington will be based on mutual respect and equal partnership,” the Russian Presidential Administration’s website reported. Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian Duma, revealed the Kremlin’s true hopes when stating that day that he expects an end to the financial and travel sanctions imposed by the West, reported the tass.ru news site.

Sergei Glazev, an advisor to Putin who was revealed by Ukrainian intelligence to have planned and organized the military aggression in Donbas, called for multilateral peace, reported the lenta.ru news site. “I think Trump, as a pragmatic person, will cancel the anti-Russian sanctions that cause damage to American business. So trade and financial-economic relations between Russia and not only the U.S., but the West as a whole, will be renewed and, most likely, will grow depending on the economic situation,” he said, as reported by the tass.ru news site. 

The sanctions imposed by the U.S. for the illegal annexation of Crimea will remain in place until the return of Crimea to the Ukrainian government, said on Nov. 9 Mark Toner, a U.S. State Department spokesman, as reported by the Ukrinform news agency. The sanctions imposed related to the military aggression in Donbas will remain in place until the complete fulfillment of the Minsk Accords, he said.

Zenon Zawada: It’s only been a day since Trump’s election and the Russians are already demanding that sanctions be removed for the Crimea annexation. The U.S. sanctions were imposed against Russia through executive orders signed by U.S. President Barack Obama without a congressional vote. However, the U.S. House of Representatives has already approved a bill in September, H.R. 5094, that reinforces the sanctions on a legislative level. We are confident there is enough support in the U.S. Senate to approve this bill and have it signed by U.S. President Obama, before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Even if this bill is not approved, Trump will not be able to cancel sanctions without a harsh reaction from the U.S. Congress, and even within his own White House staff. But it’s worth considering that Trump has built his image as a master “dealmaker.” Should he succeed in leading the effort to lift sanctions sometime in the next year, he would want serious concessions from Russia, presumably in regards to Ukraine as well. For instance, he said he would stand firm on preventing Russia from further advancing militarily into Ukraine.