MINOS Talk “Sanctions as a bargaining tool: legal and political implications of lifting or intensifying sanctions on Russia”
🗓️ Date: 26 June 2025, 15:30-17:00 CET
đź“Ť Location: Online
đź”— Register here: https://lnkd.in/eVYsE__J
The turbulent process of negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the US has opened the question of the potential lifting of sanctions. Easing financial sanctions, including restoring access to SWIFT, have emerged as one of the main bargaining tools which the Kremlin has made as a precondition for a ceasefire in the Black Sea region.
The EU remains firm in its restrictive measures. Meanwhile, the US Congress is considering new legislation targeting Russia’s financial system and oil revenues. In this volatile landscape, sanctions remain the key diplomatic leverage to attain the ceasefire but their future depends on domestic shifts and the unity of the G7+ coalition.
Given that the largest asset of the G7+ coalition’s sanctions lies within the EU’s blocking measures and freezing of the Russian Central bank assets, what would happen if the US moved to lift sanctions? What are the legal instruments at the Trump administration’s disposal to revoke restrictions, and what would this mean for the EU’s credibility and the G7+ alliance? How would the Graham-Blumenthal bill affect Russia and third countries?
Join us for a discussion on sanctions lifting with Thomas Biersteker, Sascha Lohmann, Richard Nephew and Celia Challet, moderated by Iana Ovsiannikova.