Russia: sanctions relief and the economic implications

The Trump administration’s efforts to end to the war in Ukraine has raised the prospect of sanctions relief for Russia. This Focus outlines the main sanctions currently in place and the macroeconomic impact lifting them could have. While US sanctions relief could improve Russia’s ability to settle cross-border payments and provide a boost to its financial markets, we think the impact on GDP would be small for Russia (and trivial for the US). The impact would be larger if the EU eased sanctions, but it seems far less willing to do so.