US imposes sanctions on Moscow
WASHINGTON — The United States on Thursday imposed more sanctions against Russia and expelled 10 of its diplomats in response to Moscow’s alleged election interference and cyber activities.
In addition to the expulsion of the diplomats, US President Joe Biden ordered a widening of restrictions on US banks trading in Russian government debt and sanctioned 32 individuals alleged to have tried to meddle in the 2020 presidential election, the White House said in a statement.
In response to the latest sanctions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the ministry had summoned US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan for “tough talks”.
“The United States is not ready to come to terms with the objective reality that there is a multipolar world that excludes American hegemony,” she said in televised remarks. “A response to sanctions is inevitable.”
The White House statement said Biden’s action, set out in an executive order, “sends a signal that the United States will impose costs in a strategic and economically impactful manner on Russia if it continues or escalates its destabilizing international action”.
The statement listed in first place Moscow’s “efforts to undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections and democratic institutions in the United States and its allies and partners”.
This refers to allegations that Russian intelligence agencies mounted persistent disinformation campaigns during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, in part to help Donald Trump’s candidacy, which Russia has dismissed.
The White House said the sanctions also respond to “malicious cyber activities against the United States and its allies and partners”, referring to the massive so-called SolarWinds hack of US government computer systems last year.
The statement called out Russia’s extraterritorial “targeting” of dissidents and journalists and undermining of security in countries important to US national security.
The actions represent the second major round of sanctions imposed by the Biden administration against Russia. Last month, the US sanctioned seven midlevel and senior Russian officials — along with more than a dozen government entities — over a nearly fatal nerve-agent attack on opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent jailing.
In addition, the Treasury Department, together with authorities in the European Union, Australia, Britain and Canada, sanctioned eight individuals and entities associated with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
In Brussels, the NATO military alliance said US allies “support and stand in solidarity with the United States, following its 15 April announcement of actions to respond to Russia’s destabilizing activities”.