The Trump administration last week quietly extended significant Biden-era sanctions targeting key Russian banks and the energy sector, just days before they were set to expire. A senior official insisted in an interview with Kyiv Post that the current administration has not lifted any sanctions on Moscow since taking office in January.
On June 27, the US Treasury Department issued General License No. 115B, an order that temporarily sanctions thirteen of Russia’s biggest banks, including the very institutions that help fund Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
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On January 10, 2025, just days before leaving office, former President Joe Biden’s administration announced sweeping measures targeting some Russian companies, such as Gazprom Neft, Surgutneftegas, and others that explore, produce, and sell oil.
Biden aides had briefed Trump aides on their sanctions, making a case that the move would provide the White House leverage to reach a deal for peace in Ukraine.
In the meantime, the Treasury Department’s announcement last week – which extends the Biden-era sanctions for another six month -– triggered speculations on social media, amplified by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó who announced that the United States has lifted sanctions that previously restricted the construction of the Russian-built Paks II nuclear power plant in Hungary.
Putin's Patsy
“No sanctions involving Russia have been lifted by the Trump administration, full stop,” a senior Trump Administration official told Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent.
When it comes to the Treasury Department’s latest General License, “This is not a lifting of any sanctions - it simply extends a general license that was previously in place,” explained Brad Brooks-Rubin, a former senior adviser in the Office of Sanctions Coordination at the State Department from 2022 to 2024.
“Obviously, if the Trump Administration had let the general license expire, then that would have been a significant rollback,” Brooks-Rubin, who currently serves as a partner at Arktouros, a boutique law firm specializing in sanctions, anti-money laundering, and regulatory advice, told Kyiv Post.
For security assistance analysts such as Colby Badhwar from Tochnyi, a research group, the Treasury Department’s latest announcement is “a routine action.”
“The previous license expires today (on June 30, 2025) so the administration had to make a decision to renew it or allow it to lapse, and renewing it is the easiest decision to take,” Badhwar told Kyiv Post.
“It’s also another example of there being more continuity in policy between the Biden and Trump admins than is commonly assumed,” he added. On Hungary specifically, which is the main beneficiary of this decision, the Biden administration “was more vocally critical of them, but that was not backed up by significant action via sanctions,” Badhwar recalled.
When it comes to the implications of the latest sanctions extension, former Biden official Brooks-Rubin explained to Kyiv Post that it reflects the current administration’s cautious approach, keeping options open without imposing new significant restrictions.
“They’re seeing where the negotiations go... They’re not putting in place anything new. This is just a sign that they’re continuing to keep open their options,” he said.
The former Biden official said that the Trump administration’s decision to extend sanctions only covers six months, “basically till just before the Christmas holidays.”
“December 19 of this year is when it’s extended to, so they’re giving themselves the rest of the year to decide what to do,” he concluded.
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