US: Trump Eyes Sanctions Strategy To Facilitate Ukraine Peace Settlement, BBG

Bloomberg reports that US President-elect Donald Trump’s advisors, “are crafting a wide-ranging sanctions strategy to facilitate a Russia-Ukraine diplomatic accord in the coming months while at the same time squeezing Iran and Venezuela.”

• Bloomberg notes the two likely options: “...if the incoming administration believes a resolution to the Ukraine war is in sight [they may include] some good-faith measures to benefit sanctioned Russian oil producers that could help seal a peace deal... A second option would build on the sanctions, ramping up pressure even further to increase leverage...”
• Bloomberg writes: "The approach that Trump ultimately chooses is pivotal to the global oil market," noting that the plans "ultimately depend on the president-elect himself."
• Comes after Trump advisors told Reuters that a Ukraine peace deal would take months to work out, the latest sign that the Trump administration is managing expectations that a quick resolution to the war can be reached.
• Trump's Secretary of State nominee, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday that Kyiv will likely have to cede territory to Russia in an eventual peace deal, noting that Ukraine is, "running out of Ukrainians."
• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) made the surprise decision yesterday to remove Rep Mike Turner (R-OH) as chair of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The move is likely to spook Kyiv as Turner, one of the Republican Party’s strongest Ukraine backers, told reporters that the Johnson cited “concerns from Mar-a-Lago” as justification for his removal.