Europe Rethinks Russia Strategy Over Fears Trump Will Cut Sanctions: Report

The European Union is reviewing U.S. sanctions placed on Russia by President Biden, prompted by fears that these could be repealed by Donald Trump upon his return to the White House.

According to the Financial Times, citing senior officials in Brussels, the review is intended to establish how Biden-era executive orders, if rescinded, could hinder trade relations and undermine EU initiatives.

In addition to sanctions against Russia, the Financial Times reported that Biden’s directives on trade and cybersecurity are also being evaluated for the potential consequences of their reversal.

Newsweek has contacted the European Commission and the Trump transition team via email for a response to the report.

Why It Matters

The impending inauguration of President-elect Trump has brought with it speculation that he could alter America’s strategy regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Kyiv’s heavy reliance on U.S. aid, and the skepticism shown by some in the Trump camp regarding high levels of spending on this assistance, have raised concerns that Trump’s return could jeopardize Ukraine’s defensive efforts.

Such fears have likely motivated the Biden administration’s last-ditch effort to shore up Ukraine’s armed forces through a series of sizeable defense packages.

U.S. sanctions on Russia have now also come into question, threatening to undermine the wider effort by Ukraine’s allies to impede Russia’s military-financing capabilities.

While the sanctions have not deterred Vladimir Putin from pressing on with the invasion and their efficacy in hindering Russia’s military-financing capabilities has been called into question, the measures have succeeded in putting significant strain on the Russian economy.

What To Know

Since the onset of the invasion, the U.S. has led the way in imposing sanctions on Russia.

The most significant package came in February 2024, when Biden announced over 500 new sanctions against Moscow, prompted both by the invasion and the death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.

Trump, meanwhile, has expressed skepticism regarding the sanctions framework. During an interview with Bloomberg in July, when asked whether easing sanctions on Russia could be part of his proposed peace plan, the then Republican presidential candidate said: “So what we’re doing with sanctions is we’re forcing everyone away from us. So I don’t love sanctions.”

As president, however, Trump imposed hundreds of sanctions on Russia as part of the continued response to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, as well as for harmful cyber operations, meddling in elections and its support for nations such as North Korea.

According to Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Finance and Security at the Royal United Services Institute, Trump could also face legislative restrictions if he tried to roll back sanctions from the Biden era.

The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, reluctantly signed into law by Trump in August 2017, limited the president’s ability to unilaterally revoke sanctions on countries such as Russia.

What People Are Saying

A spokesperson for the Trump Transition team told the Financial Times that the president had won a “resounding mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail and disrupt the status quo in Washington.”

Keatinge wrote in a November column for the Kyiv Independent: “Europe has had three years to get match-fit on sanctions, and while the application of sanctions may be a marathon, not a sprint, changes in the White House mean that Europe can no longer jog behind Uncle Sam. It’s time for Europe to shed its timidity and show what it has learned. Anything less will be a betrayal of the Ukrainian people at a time when they need Europe more than ever.”

Jeremy Pizzi, legal adviser at Global Rights Compliance, told Newsweek: “If the United States turns its back on Ukraine, it invites chaos onto its own doorstep by risking the dismantlement of the international legal framework that has contributed to unprecedented levels of global peace and stability for nearly eight decades.”

Daniel Tannebaum, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote in a November article for the council: “While G7 partners’ concerns about the potential for the United States to lift its sanctions targeting Russia are valid, there are several procedural hoops the next administration would need to jump through to do it in order to fully lift all existing sanctions.”

What Happens Next?

Trump’s inauguration will take place on January 20, after which he has vowed to make the resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict a key foreign policy priority.

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