Posted on April 21, 2025
President Donald Trump has extended a ban on Russian ships docking in U.S. ports, citing national security concerns.
The move, announced in a U.S. Federal Register document published Thursday, continues a policy first enacted by his predecessor, Joe Biden, in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The ban prohibits vessels owned or linked to Russia from docking along U.S. shores.
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s foreign ministry for comment by email.
Why It Matters
The extension comes amid growing frustration from Trump, whose efforts to broker peace talks in the Ukraine war have repeatedly hit roadblocks.
It also follows legislation introduced by Senators Joni Ernst, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, last week which aims to set up a fund to impose sanctions on Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers.
What To Know
“The policies and actions of the Government of the Russian Federation continue to constitute a national emergency by reason of a disturbance or threatened disturbance of international relations of the United States,” the document said.
Trump said he is “continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to the Russian Federation and the emergency authority relating to the regulation of the anchorage and movement of Russian-affiliated vessels to United States ports.”
The president was referring to Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet, which largely operates in the Baltic Sea and consists of old vessels that often operate under opaque ownership and lack adequate insurance, frequently changing their flag registrations.
Experts say the vessels are being used by Russia to circumvent curbs on its oil exports.
Officials have also sounded the alarm that vessels from the Russian shadow fleet can be used for signals intelligence, or intercepting communications.
Days earlier, on Tuesday, Trump extended for one year a national emergency declared by Biden in 2021 tied to “specified harmful foreign activities of the government of the Russian Federation.”
These activities “continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Trump said in the presidential document.
What People Are Saying
Former President Joe Biden said in April 2022: “This is yet another critical step we are taking in concert with our partners in the European Union, United Kingdom and Canada in further to deny Russia the benefits of the international economic system that they so enjoyed in the past.”
What Happens Next
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Sunday that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump is being planned. Trump’s pledge to broker peace talks aimed at ending the Ukraine war has faced significant hurdles, with both Ukraine and Russia struggling to reach mutually acceptable terms.
