US President Donald Trump had hosted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska in August 2025. US President Donald Trump has approved a plan that could allow limited sanctions relief for Russia in exchange for the release of political prisoners, according to a report by The Atlantic. The proposal was put to Trump several months ago by John Coale, his envoy to Eastern Europe and a former Trump lawyer. The plan had been kept secret, the report said. Under the proposal, US officials could pursue commercial deals involving Russian oil, diesel and rare earth minerals while Moscow continues its war in Ukraine. The approach could draw criticism from Ukrainian and European officials, who have raised concerns that revenue from such deals could help fund Russia's war effort. It could also face opposition from some Republicans in Congress. The reported plan comes only weeks after Trump signed legislation imposing severe sanctions on Russia and countries that trade with it. Coale has spent more than a year developing a similar approach in Belarus. He helped secure the release of about 500 political prisoners held by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in exchange for sanctions relief. That effort helped pave the way for what Trump described last week on Truth Social as a "massive" fertiliser deal. Coale told The Atlantic that Russia was also involved because the fertiliser would likely need to be transported through Russian territory. "All this stuff works toward the possibility of peace," Coale told the magazine. Washington has largely avoided trade deals involving Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to oppose any lifting of sanctions on Russia before the war ends. But he acknowledged that it would be difficult to compete with the financial incentives offered by Russia. Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya criticised the prisoner-release approach, telling The Atlantic: "They can always arrest more people." The White House this week nominated Coale as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. He will have to appear before senators before taking up the post. Trump returned to the White House last year after repeatedly promising during his presidential campaign that he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours. Since then, he has held several calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and sent his envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Putin at least seven times. Trump also hosted Putin at a summit in Alaska in August 2025, in what was the Russian president's first visit to the US since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The talks ended without a ceasefire. More than a year after the summit, Russian forces continue to attack Ukrainian cities while Trump continues to pursue a peace agreement.