The US Treasury Department has temporarily lifted some restrictions placed on Russia to facilitate the Alaska meeting
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday issued a temporary waiver for some sanctions against Russia, allowing transactions related to the upcoming meeting between the presidents of the two countries.
The announcement was made by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) shortly ahead of the summit scheduled for Friday, when US President Donald Trump is set to host his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
The sanctions waiver covers transactions that are “normally incidental to and necessary for the attendance at or support of meetings in the state of Alaska,” yet it does not authorize the “unblocking or release of any property blocked or effectively immobilized.”
The pause is set to stay in effect until August 20, OFAC noted.
The upcoming meeting is expected to focus on the Ukraine conflict, as well as on a broader range of issues related to the bilateral US-Russia ties.
Both Washington and Moscow have been cautious about their expectations, signaling the summit is likely to be the first top-level event in a string of talks rather than yield an immediate breakthrough.
The US president earlier described the Alaska summit as a “feel-out meeting” that will help him determine whether the Ukraine conflict can be settled altogether.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Moscow views the meeting as a chance to begin mending strained ties with Washington, expressing hopes the “high-level meeting will give an impulse to the normalization of bilateral relations.”
