On June 17, Reuters broke the story that, in recent weeks, the Trump administration disbanded a working group that was intended to pressure Russia into ending its invasion of Ukraine.
The working group was established “in March or April” as a response to Russia’s reluctance to reach a peace deal. It was a period of time in which Trump appeared to be more confrontational with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
By the time the group was eliminated, it was still creating solutions to get Russia to the negotiating table. Many of the ideas from the group were geopolitical in nature, involving the mitigation of Russian influence in the former Soviet sphere. Disrupting Russian trade in Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as special covert operations, were on the table.
One official mentioned the possibility of creating an incentive structure to push Kazakhstan to more vigorously crack down on sanctions evasion. The country, like other post-Soviet states, has been used by traders to bypass some Western-imposed import restrictions on Russia since Moscow’s expanded invasion began in 2022.
Reuters
Unlike most other shambolic attempts at governance by the administration, the working group was a coherent whole-of-government effort.
The effort was set up and coordinated by high-ranking NSC staffers, the officials said, though it included participants from the State Department, Treasury Department, the Pentagon and intelligence community. Among those working on the effort was Andrew Peek, the top NSC official for Europe and Russia, who was removed in May.
Reuters
The main reason officials gave for the termination of the group was Trump’s lack of interest in confronting the Kremlin. Cuts to the National Security Council (NSC) have also been blamed.
It is unknown if Trump even knew about the existence of the group or its dissolution.
Reuters broke this story on the same day that Trump left the G7 early after claiming that Russia was wrongfully expelled from the group, despite the fact that its initial invasion of Ukraine was the reason it was kicked out.
