Told ya' sanctions relief was coming.

Comrade Trump is lifting restrictions on banking sectors which are a major piece of international penalties on Moscow over its full-scale invasion launched in Feb. 2022 as well as restoring access for Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports to the world market, reducing the cost of marine insurance, and expanding access to ports and payment systems to conduct such transactions.

Part of sanctions relief includes connecting these financial institutions back to SWIFT, the international messaging system to process global transactions. The Biden administration expelled selective Russian banks from the SWIFT system in the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion against Ukraine.

Russia, in its readout of the meeting with U.S. officials, said the U.S. will need to lift restrictions on trade finance transactions and on companies producing and exporting food, including fish products, and fertilizers. Sanctions relief must also be applied to insurance companies with cargoes of food, fish products and fertilizers, it said.

Here's how the ceasefire doesn't work for Ukraine: the US got Ukraine to agree a Black Sea ceasefire with the assurance that if Russia broke it, the US would put more sanctions on Russia. But Comrade Trump then immediately agreed to sanctions relief for Russia as part of the Black Sea Ceasefire, giving Putin exactly what he had wanted all along.

Now Ukraine is in a box. If Ukraine rejects the ceasefire agreement, Comrade Donald will say Ukraine blew up the deal and provide even more sanctions relief to his sweet Vlady. But if Ukraine accepts the deal, Russia is provided with a distinct financial advantage.

In short, Comrade Trump just stabbed Ukraine in the back.

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