Putin trump a love made in hell
Trump Administration to Lift Sanctions on Russian Oligarch’s Companies
The Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska, right, with Vladimir V. Putin in 2008. Mr. Deripaska and his businesses were hit with sanctions in April over Russian election interference.CreditIlia Pitalev/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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The Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska, right, with Vladimir V. Putin in 2008. Mr. Deripaska and his businesses were hit with sanctions in April over Russian election interference.CreditCreditIlia Pitalev/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
By
Kenneth P. Vogel
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it intends to lift sanctions against the business empire of Oleg V. Deripaska, one of Russia’s most influential oligarchs, after an aggressive lobbying campaign by Mr. Deripaska’s companies.
The decision by the Treasury Department, which had been postponed for months, was both politically and economically sensitive, and drew criticism from some Democrats and foreign policy analysts that the administration was sending the wrong signal to Moscow about its conduct toward its neighbors and the United States.
The companies are among the biggest in the aluminum industry, and questions about their fate had roiled global metals markets. And Mr. Deripaska’s stature in Russia made any decision seen to be in his favor tricky for the administration at a time when President Trump is under investigation by the special counsel in connection with Russian interference in the 2016 election.
