The US claims Moscow still represents an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to its national security
President Donald Trump has prolonged US sanctions on Russia for another year, based on the supposition that Moscow still poses a serious threat to the country’s national security.
Washington placed punitive restrictions on Russia after it absorbed Crimea following a referendum held in 2014, and later over Moscow’s alleged meddling in American elections. The sanctions were drastically expanded following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.
The latest extension approved by Trump and dated April 10, 2025, has been posted to the Federal Register’s website, announcing the “Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Specified Harmful Foreign Activities of the Government of the Russian Federation.”
It refers primarily to Executive Order 14024 signed by former President Joe Biden in April 2021 in response to an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the United States” presumed to be posed by Russia.
Among the “harmful” activities ascribed to Russia in the document are “efforts to undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections and democratic institutions in the United States and its allies and partners.”
Some of Moscow’s other alleged transgressions are attempts to “undermine security in countries and regions important to United States national security; and to violate well-established principles of international law, including respect for the territorial integrity of states.”
Late last month, the US president lamented that there was still “a lot of ill will between” Ukraine and Russia.
Trump has also threatened to impose new sanctions on Moscow if he deems Russia responsible for any failure in ceasefire talks on the Ukraine conflict.
Commenting on Trump’s threat, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that “our dialogue with the American side is ongoing,” and that Moscow remains open to resolving the Ukraine conflict diplomatically.
In mid-March, the US president proposed a pause on strikes against energy infrastructure, which was publicly supported by both Moscow and Kiev. Russia has accused Ukraine of breaching the ceasefire, but has reiterated its aim to uphold the partial truce in order to build relations with the US.
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