White Home Nationwide Financial Council Director Kevin Hassett mentioned on April 6 that Russia was excluded from the U.S. tariff listing because of ongoing peace negotiations with Ukraine.
In an interview with ABC Information, Hassett defined that U.S. President Donald Trump “made the choice to not conflate the 2 points,” and that he’s specializing in negotiations.
“It’s not acceptable to throw a brand new factor into these negotiations proper in the midst of it. It's simply not,” Hassett mentioned.
Hassett argued that introducing new tariffs throughout peace talks would danger disrupting diplomatic progress.
“Would you actually advise that you just go in and put an entire bunch of recent issues on the desk in the midst of a negotiation that impacts so many Ukrainian and Russian lives? No, no,” he mentioned.
Trump’s new tariff coverage, introduced as a part of what he known as "Liberation Day," imposed duties on practically each main U.S. buying and selling accomplice, together with Ukraine. Kyiv was hit with a ten% tariff, in comparison with 20% on the EU and 54% on China.
Russia, Belarus, North Korea, and Cuba had been notably not included.
Financial system Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko mentioned that the Trump administration's newest tariffs are more likely to be "troublesome, however not crucial" for Ukraine's financial system.
Ukraine's exports to the U.S. in 2024 amounted to $874 million, together with $363 million in forged iron and $112 million in pipes, Svyrydenko mentioned on Fb. The identical 12 months, Ukraine imported $3.4 billion value of U.S. items.
The White Home’s choice to exclude Russia from the tariff listing comes amid rising indicators of diplomatic and financial engagement between Washington and Moscow.
Final week, Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev visited the USA and expressed “cautious optimism” about the way forward for Russian-American relations, emphasizing a concentrate on funding cooperation and the start of “respectful, good dialogue.”
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova