The Daily Beast: Trump's administration tried to soften sanctions against Russian oil industry workers

The White House considered the issue of mitigating sanctions against the Russian oil industry due to their harm to the American economy. It is reported by The Daily Beast with reference to former officials of the American administration and electronic correspondence, which at the disposal of the publication.

In mid -March, writes the publication, the National Security Council (SNB) under President Donald Trump sent a request to the State Department with a request to evaluate how American sanctions are harmful to the Russian oil business. The document was drawn up under the leadership of the new Trump adviser to the national security of Herbert McMaster. According to one of the sources, the SNB strategist Kevin Harrington conducted an economic analysis from which it followed that American restrictions did not cause significant damage to Russia. In his opinion, these sanctions should be canceled, as they harmed the American economy. Harrington "very aggressively" insisted on making such a decision, one of the interlocutors of the magazine noted.

In further correspondence, officials of the State Department opposed the abolition of sanctions. Removing restrictions, assured by the American diplomatic department, on the contrary, will hit the American energy sector, as low oil prices supported by restrictions create an advantage for American shale hydrocarbons. "Russian (oil. - ed.) Products competes with American shale oil at a price above $ 50 per barrel," the magazine quotes a letter from the State Department.

In addition, the State Department noted, the situation that led to the introduction of sanctions has not changed for the better. "Russia continues to occupy the territory of Ukraine, including Crimea," one of the letters from the State Department said.

The diplomatic department also noted that the abolition of sanctions under the pretext of their harm to the economy will lead to the fact that other countries are unlikely to agree to join the possible new American sanctions against Iran and the DPRK in the future.

Now the abolition of sanctions seems unlikely, concluded one of the interlocutors of the publication. "There is a consensus that the sanctions will not be canceled until we see significant changes in Russia's behavior," he said.

On June 2, Yahoo News reported that Trump planned to lift sanctions from Russia in the early days as president of the United States. According to the agency, the White House almost immediately after the inauguration of the new president was set before the State Department the task "to relieve tension of relations with Moscow." In particular, diplomats were required to develop proposals for the removal of economic restrictions and the return of Russia of its diplomaticness.

On February 13, the old Trump adviser to National Security Michael Flynn resigned after it became known that he misinformed Vice President Mike Pence regarding the details of his conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington Sergei Kislyak. The media found out that in December 2016, even before the inauguration of Trump and Pence, Flynn discussed American sanctions against Russia with Kislyak.