WASHINGTON, August 7. /TASS/. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesman Tommy Pigott neither confirmed nor denied the US administration's intention to impose sanctions against Russia on August 8.
"A lot of speculation is involved there. I'm not going to speculate from here," he said at a briefing in response to a reporter’s question.
On July 14, President Donald Trump said he was setting aside the 50-day deadline to reach an agreement on the Ukrainian settlement. After that deadline, he said he would impose 100% tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners. On July 29, the US president issued a statement saying he was reducing the deadline to ten days. He noted that he did not know whether this would affect Russia's position.
The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, Russia and the US have agreed to an arrangement for Putin and Trump to meet in the coming days. He also noted that preparations for the summit have begun.