U.S. President Donald Trump signed H.R. 5334, a law that significantly changes the U.S. sanctions regime against Russia. Put simply, its main feature is that a substantial portion of the restrictions will become much more difficult to lift solely by presidential decision, UNN writes.
Details
Previously, most U.S. sanctions against Russia were imposed through presidential executive orders, decisions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and other administrative mechanisms. Therefore, the White House had considerable room for maneuver—it could ease certain restrictions, issue licenses, and make exceptions.
H.R. 5334 places a significant portion of the sanctions under federal law. This means that changing or completely removing them through a single presidential decision will become considerably more difficult.
What changes for Russia
One of the key provisions is a ban on new investments in Russia by U.S. citizens and companies, including in its energy sector.
In practice, this creates a serious barrier to the return of American businesses to Russia’s oil, gas, and infrastructure projects, even in the event of a political thaw between Washington and Moscow.
In other words, the Kremlin will not be able to count on American companies immediately returning to Russia and investing billions of dollars in its economy after agreements with the White House.
Can Trump ease the sanctions
Yes, the U.S. president retains some room to do so. The law allows him to grant so-called *waivers*—temporary exemptions from certain sanctions if this serves U.S. national interests.
But a temporary exemption and the complete lifting of sanctions are now fundamentally different things.
To fully terminate the sanctions against Russia provided for by the law, the president must certify that specific conditions have been met. These include Russia concluding a peace agreement acceptable to Ukraine’s free and independent government, ending hostilities, and ceasing activities aimed at undermining the Ukrainian state. After that, the decision goes through the procedure provided for by law in Congress.
Why this matters for Ukraine
The law’s main effect is aimed not only at the present day. It increases the risks for any U.S. company that may want to return to Russia in the future.
Even if a business receives temporary permission to operate in the russian federation, the company will have to take into account that the exemption may expire and the sanctions restrictions may begin to apply again.
For Moscow, this also complicates the use of major economic projects as part of negotiations with the U.S. The Kremlin may offer American businesses oil, gas, minerals, projects in the Arctic, or transportation infrastructure, but a single political decision by the White House is now insufficient for a full return to normal economic relations.
In effect, H.R. 5334 creates a legislative safeguard against the rapid dismantling of sanctions against Russia. That is why, for Ukraine, not only the severity of the new restrictions matters, but also how difficult it will be to fully abandon them without an end to Russian aggression and a peaceful settlement acceptable to Ukraine.
Trump signed a law on "hellish sanctions" against Russia19.09.26, 00:56