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(AP)–U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t agree to stop his war in Ukraine after their Friday summit in Alaska, though he did not say what those consequences might be.
Trump’s comment came after attending a virtual meeting with European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who told the group that Putin “is bluffing” about seeking peace. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the European leaders had a “constructive and good” discussion with Trump.
Here’s the latest:
US issues sanctions waiver to allow Russia to spend money in support of Putin-Trump meeting
The Treasury Department has issued a license that temporarily waives sanctions to allow Russia to spend money inside the United States to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s summit with President Donald Trump later this week.
The license, which will expire on Aug. 20, five days after the summit, authorizes the Russian government to spend and American companies and others to accept summit-related payments that might otherwise be prohibited by U.S. sanctions.
Payments that “are ordinarily incident and necessary to the attendance at or support of meetings in the State of Alaska between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation” are allowed by the license.
Wednesday’s Treasury notice did not specify what specific transactions would be allowed.
