Trump Considers Lifting Sanctions on Putin’s ‘Slush Fund’

Four days after Russia launched its all-out effort to subjugate Ukraine, the US government and other Western alliesfired a broadside of financial sanctions aimed at punishing the Kremlin's wallet for the assault. The Russian Central Bank was prominent. So was a multibillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund that the Kremlin calls the Russian Direct Investment Fund, or RDIF.

S. Treasury called it "a slush fund for President Vladimir Putin [that] is emblematic of Russia's broader kleptocracy." After months of dormancy, US negotiators have ramped up efforts to find a negotiated settlement to end Russia's war on Ukraine -- as well as normalize frosty relations between Washington and Moscow. The peace proposals vary. Many tilt heavily in Russia favor, something that was echoed in Putin's remarks to European leaders earlier this week.