Putin Tests How Far Trump Will Go Against Europe on Sanctions

Letters reading "We are together" in the colours of the Russian flag displayed outside the US embassy in Moscow on March 19.
Photographer: Nikita Borissov/AFP/Getty Images

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By Bloomberg News

March 28, 2025 at 4:10 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The Kremlin has a deliberate strategy to test how far US President Donald Trump is willing to go in pressing Europe to ease sanctions, according to people familiar with the situation.

Russia is demanding the reconnection of one of its largest state banks to the SWIFT international messaging system as a condition for accepting a US-brokered truce in the Black Sea.