The US Treasury Department temporarily lifted certain financial sanctions against Russia on Wednesday until Aug. 20 to allow preparations ahead of a summit on Friday between US and Russian leaders in Alaska.

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement that the exemption concerns transactions that are “ordinarily incident and necessary to the attendance at or support of meetings in the State of Alaska between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation.”

It noted that the move does not allow the unblocking or release of any property frozen or restricted under the sanctions against Russia.

The face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since 2021, when Putin met then-US President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland.

It will also mark the first time a Russian leader sets foot on Alaskan soil since the Russian Empire sold the territory to the US in 1867. (PNA)