White House Looked at Dropping Russia SanctionsEven After Firing Michael Flynn
The White House explored unilaterally easing sanctions on Russias oil industry as recently as late March, arguing that decreased Russian oil production could harm the American economy, according to former U.S. officials.
State Department officials argued successfully that easing those sanctions would actually hurt the U.S. energy sector, according to those former officials and email exchanges reviewed by The Daily Beast.
In one email exchange, a State Department official feels the need to explain that lowering punitive sanctions on the Russian oil industry would be rewarding Moscowwithout getting anything from the Kremlin in return.
Russia continues to occupy Ukraine including Crimeaconditions that led to the sanctions have not changed, the official wrote.
