US may ease sanctions against Russia in exchange for release of political prisoners

US President Donald Trump’s special representative, John Cole, has proposed a new approach to relations with Russia – to seek the release of political prisoners in exchange for a gradual easing of sanctions and the restoration of economic ties.

This is what The Atlantic writes about.

According to the publication, Donald Trump supported Cole’s idea.

They propose to take as a basis the approach that Cole has already used in relations with Belarus. After the release of political prisoners, the US eased some sanctions and discussed the resumption of economic contacts.

Now Cole wants to use a similar model in relations with Russia. His idea is that the release of political prisoners and the gradual resumption of trade could create additional channels of dialogue between Washington and Moscow.

American officials are also considering large-scale business deals with Russia as one possible tool for reaching a peace agreement regarding the war against Ukraine.

In parallel, Washington is trying to negotiate a limited ceasefire, including on attacks on energy infrastructure and shipping in the Black Sea. At the same time, Russia continues its attacks on Ukraine, and Ukrainian officials, according to The Atlantic, do not expect serious peace talks in the near future.

Critics of this approach fear that exchanging the release of political prisoners for sanctions concessions could create an incentive for authoritarian regimes to detain new people and use them as bargaining chips.

Cole plans to coordinate his actions with Steve Witkoff, who remains one of Trump’s main negotiators in contacts with the Russian side.

Recall, earlier “Pryamiy” wrote that the Trump administration is considering the possibility of concluding economic agreements with Russia even before the end of the war . The White House sees such agreements as one of the possible incentives for Moscow to agree to an end to the war.

It was also reported that the US and Belarus had reached an agreement to release 25 political prisoners . In response, Washington agreed to lift sanctions on two Belarusian companies. This is the approach that Cole now proposes to use in relations with Russia.

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