New sanctions will be imposed on Russia every month or two - Volker

19.10.2018 11:06

Ukrinform

U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker has said that President Donald Trump's administration will continue to increase pressure on Russia, primarily by imposing new sanctions every month or two months.

He said this at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington on Thursday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We've tried to increase the pressure we're putting on Russia in order to get them to negotiate towards a solution [to the conflict in eastern Ukraine]. That includes keeping sanctions in place in the U.S. and increasing those sanctions periodically over time," Volker said.

This is a track the U.S. has been on during the course of the Trump administration and will continue to be on, he added.

"You'll see additional sanctions come into play every month or two months or so as we've seen," Volker said.

He also said that Washington was working on this issue with European partners. "The European Union has shown tremendous resilience and strength in keeping this in place [sanctions against Russia]," the U.S. diplomat said.

Following Russia's annexation of Crimea, the United States introduced the first package of sanctions against Russia, and in April 2018, Washington imposed new sanctions on Russian businessmen and officials, as well as financial institutions and companies associated with the Kremlin. It is one of the most powerful packages of sanctions against Russia, including due to its aggression against Ukraine. The restrictions were imposed in pursuance of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) approved in August last year.