Trump disbands task force targeting Russian oligarchs

The US Justice Department under President Donald Trump is disbanding an effort started after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine to enforce sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin.

A memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi, issued on Wednesday during a wave of orders on her first day in office but not previously reported, said the effort, known as Task Force KleptoCapture, will end as part of a shift in focus and funding to combating drug cartels and international gangs.

"This policy requires a fundamental change in mindset and approach," Bondi wrote in the directive, adding that resources now devoted to enforcing sanctions and seizing the assets of oligarchs will be redirected to countering cartels.

The effort, launched during Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, was designed to strain the finances of wealthy associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin and punish those facilitating sanctions and export control violations.

It was part of a broader push to freeze Russia out of global markets and enforce wide-ranging sanctions imposed on Moscow amid international condemnation of its war in Ukraine.

The task force brought indictments against aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska and TV tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev for alleged sanctions busting, and seized yachts belonging to sanctioned oligarchs Suleiman Kerimov and Viktor Vekselberg.

It also secured a guilty plea against a US lawyer who made $US3.8 million ($A6 million) in payments to maintain properties owned by Vekselberg.

Prosecutors assigned to the task force will return to their previous posts. The changes will be in effect for at least 90 days and could be renewed or made permanent, according to the directive.

Trump has spoken about improving relations with Moscow. He has previously vowed to end the war in Ukraine, though he has not released a detailed plan.

Meanwhile, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian parliament says Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump will meet soon.

"February or March," Leonid Slutsky told the Russian news agency Interfax in Moscow about the timing of a potential meeting.

"We don't want to guess," he said, adding the two leaders should have "the opportunity to prepare carefully and comprehensively, but it will take place soon."

He said preparations for the meeting are at an "advanced stage."

So far, Trump and Putin have only repeatedly publicly declared their willingness to agree on a solution to the Ukraine conflict at a meeting. But there is still no place or date for such talks.

To date, the Kremlin has only confirmed that there are contacts between the Russian and US sides, but has not provided any details.

Slutsky, who was also involved in the first negotiations for a solution to the war, which Russia started nearly three years ago with its full-scale assault of Ukraine, hopes a Putin-Trump meeting would be constructive.

"It will be about Ukraine, the Middle East and, more generally, issues of world politics and international relations in the near future. I am sure that this meeting will be a milestone," he said.

with DPA