Obama Aide: Russia Sanctions Could Be Eased in Weeks

Also Says US Looking for Ways to Increase Sanctions

by Jason Ditz, 

With the Minsk ceasefire holding between Ukraine and its ethnic Russian eastern rebels, Obama aide Tony Blinken says that the US could begin easing economicsanctions against Russia within the next few weeks, assuming progress continues to be made.

The ceasefire has put an end to the war on most fronts, though there has been some intermittent fighting in the rebel capital of Donetsk, which has come under shelling at times.

The US didn’t seem keen on the ceasefire at the time, but with it holding and winter fast approaching they are likely under growing pressure from Europe to dial back the sanctions, allowing commerce to flow into central and western Europe again.

Despite the encouraging statement from Blinken, he went on to say that the US is also examining ways to increase the sanctions against the Russian economy in the event that they don’t like the rate of progress made in east Ukraine.