The White House pins hope on its policy of sanctions to cripple the Russian economy. Washington has already imposed a vast array of severe economic restrictions. Currently, the US administration voices concerns about the overuse of this lever which seems to be the only option for stepping up pressure on the Kremlin.

US Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo pointed out that they had to employ extra personnel to carry out in-depth research on the Russian economy and its correlation with the global economy. Justifying unprecedented penalties on Russia, the senior officials said that the US alone had introduced roughly a thousand sanctions against Russian government agencies and individuals. For the time being, the White House has set the goal of seeking tools that would knock down the Russian economy with minimal damage to the US economy.      

After the sanctions had backfired on the US and its allies, the US authorities decided to prompt unofficially domestic agricultural and logistic companies to increase imports of Russian fertilizers. Moreover, the EU and the US have already amended previously imposed restrictions on commerce with Moscow. They want to resume purchases of fertilizers from Russia, the key global supplier. Notably, a lot of consigners, banks, and insurance companies hesitate to proceed with their business for fear of violating restrictions, albeit not on purpose.  

Nevertheless, the US administration is unwilling to give up its assertive policy on Russia, aiming to prolong and expand the scope and severity of penalties. In fact, the US and its allies were braced for the side effect of their retaliatory measures.