US Temporarily Waives Sanctions for Trump-Putin Summit

By Staff, Agencies

The US Treasury Department has granted a temporary waiver on certain sanctions against Russia to facilitate the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC] announced Wednesday that the waiver applies to transactions “normally incidental to and necessary for the attendance at or support of meetings in the state of Alaska”.

It does not authorize the release of any blocked assets. The waiver will remain in effect until August 20.

The summit, set for Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, is expected to center on the war in Ukraine and broader US-Russia relations.

Both sides have downplayed expectations, framing the meeting as an initial step rather than a breakthrough. Trump has called it a “feel-out meeting” to gauge the prospects for ending the conflict, while Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Moscow hopes it will “give an impulse to the normalization of bilateral relations”.