Voskresensky made the claim about U.S. plans to lift sanctions against various countries during a March 18, 2025, broadcast on Radio Minsk.
“They’re now rethinking their approach to sanctions. Today I read a report saying the U.S. Treasury is urgently working on steps to lift or adjust the sanctions. They didn’t just impose them on us — there are dozens of countries under U.S. sanctions around the world.” Why are they rushing to develop emergency measures? Because countries are starting to move away from the dollar. … And the dollar’s role in global transactions has been declining for years now,” the politician concluded in a conversation with host Vadim Yelfimov.
The WTF team found the news report Voskresensky was likely referring to.
“President Donald Trump has ordered a reassessment of the current U.S. sanctions policy, as it undermines the dollar’s role as a global reserve currency, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent,” the report said.
However, Bessent did not mention lifting or easing any restrictions. He said the United States plans to shift to a policy of ‘maximum-impact sanctions.’
“As for the sanctions on Russia, I’ll tell you this — they were completely unfair. The Biden administration sent tens of billions of dollars to support Ukraine, while the sanctions on the other side were weak because they were afraid of a spike in U.S. oil prices during the election. At the end of the term, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan toughened the sanctions. I’d say they went from a three to a six. We’ve kept those sanctions in place, and President Trump has instructed me to take them all the way to ten if necessary to bring President Putin to the negotiating table.”
There was also a news report about the United States exploring options for potentially easing sanctions. But the story was published two weeks before Voskresensky’s statement and referred only to Russia: The White House had directed the Treasury and State departments to draft a plan for talks with Moscow aimed at improving relations and ending the war in Ukraine. Reuters reported the news on March 3, citing two unnamed sources.
Earlier, in February, Donald Trump extended sanctions against Russia. In the two months since taking office, the United States has also imposed sanctions on Chinese companies for purchasing Iranian oil and introduced new restrictions on Iran’s oil sector to cut off funding for terrorist groups. The International Criminal Court was also sanctioned over its investigation into Israel. In addition, Trump rolled back all U.S. sanctions relief previously granted to Venezuela.