Washington (CNN)President Donald
Trump's hints about easing sanctions on Russia have been met with a clear European
response please don't.On Saturday, Trump is set to hold his first official
phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a day after a senior aide
said Trump is considering lifting penalties put in place after Russia's
intervention in eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.
British Prime Minister Theresa May,
visiting Washington Friday, made clear the UK's position -- sanctions should
remain until Russia and the Ukrainian rebels it backs meet the requirements of
a 2014 agreement to end hostilities.If the US moves forward on sanctions
without the backing of allies like the UK, Trump risks seriously straining ties
with some of its oldest and most reliable allies, European countries are
already unsettled by the President's stated desire to get closer to Russia and
his suggestions that NATO is "obsolete."
Unilaterally easing Russia sanctions
"would be another blow to US-EU relations," said Angela Stent,
director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at
Georgetown University. "If sanctions are removed unilaterally it removes a
major basis for trust between the two allies."The Obama administration
worked very closely to get the reluctant Europeans to impose sanctions, Stent
recalled, only getting European buy-in after a Malaysian Airlines flight
traveling from Holland to Malaysia was downed by a Russian-made missile.
What's more, she adds, "if the
sanctions are lifted in the absence of agreement from our European allies and
in the absence of the Russians fulfilling what they're supposed to do with
regards to Minsk" the 2014 agreement to end the conflict "the
Russians have gotten away with what they've done in Ukraine."Trump was at
his first White House press conference with a foreign leader Friday when he was
asked about the possibility of removing penalties on Russia. Standing beside
May, a bust of the British wartime leader Winston Churchill between them, Trump
walked a careful line.
"As far as the sanctions, very
early to be talking about that," he said. "We look to have a great
relationship with all countries, ideally. That won't necessarily happen,
unfortunately probably won't happen with many countries."On Friday night,
just hours ahead of Trump's call with Putin, a senior administration official
said the current plan of the White House is not to ease sanctions.
May, who had spent the previous two
days emphasizing UK solidarity with the new American administration, and had
publicly warned about trusting Putin, was definitive about her position."As
far as the UK is concerned, on sanctions for Russia in relation to their activities
in the Ukraine, we have been very clear that we want to see the Minsk Agreement
fully implemented," she said. "We've been continuing to argue that
inside the European Union."
While Britain has chosen to leave the
EU, diplomats said there's no daylight between the UK and the 27 countries
remaining in the European bloc when it comes to Russia sanctions.European
diplomats told CNN that any decision the organization makes will be determined
by EU interests -- and not political decisions by Trump in Washington.
Trump spoke of his desire for closer
relations with Russia throughout the campaign, touting it as a plus if Moscow
and the US could cooperate to defeat ISIS. Trump's desire for better relations
with Putin became a fraught issue, as US intelligence agencies charged that
Moscow had directed cyberattacks tied to the 2016 election with the aim of
helping Trump.
Earlier Friday, top Trump adviser
Kellyanne Conway told Fox News that lifting US sanctions on Russia would be up
for discussion when Trump and Putin speak Saturday."All of that is under
consideration," Conway said when asked specifically whether lifting
sanctions approved by the Obama administration would be considered.
Trump had hedged in his White House
remarks, saying, "I hear a call was set up and we will see what
happens.""I hope we have a fantastic relationship," he said of
Putin. "That's possible, and it's also possible that we won't. We will see
what happens."
After an initial attempt to improve
relations with Russia, the Obama administration hit Russian banks, individuals,
energy companies and defense contractors with sanctions in 2014 for their
support for Ukrainian separatists. After Russia's annexation of Crimea, the US
punished Russian individuals with asset freezes and travel bans.And after
intelligence agencies reached their conclusion about Russian interference in
the election, the Obama administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats.
Derek Chollet, a senior adviser for
defense and security policy at the German Marshall Fund, said it's not clear
Trump will actually follow through on easing sanctions."This could be yet
another idea that they've floated that they end up not doing," he said.
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