Major US sanctions on Russian oligarchs
WASHINGTON: The United States imposed major sanctions on Friday against 24 Russians, striking at allies of President Vladimir Putin in one of Washington’s most aggressive moves to punish Moscow for what it called a range of “malign activity,” including alleged meddling in the 2016 US election.
The action, taken under pressure from the US Congress, freezes the US assets of “oligarchs” such as aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska, a close associate of Putin, and lawmaker Suleiman Kerimov, whose family controls Russia’s largest gold producer, Polyus.
The sanctions are largely a reply to what US intelligence agencies say was Russian interference in the presidential election, although the Treasury Department painted them as a response to a series of adversarial actions by Moscow.
US President Donald Trump has been under fire for not taking strong action against Russia after a series of diplomatic disputes reminiscent of the Cold War era and the sanctions could complicate his hopes for good relations with Putin.
The sanctions are aimed at seven Russian oligarchs and 12 companies they own or control, plus 17 senior Russian government officials. They freeze the US assets of the people and companies named and forbid Americans in general from doing business with them.
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said, however, Moscow’s contacts with the US government would not be brought to an end by the sanctions. Russia denies interfering in the US election.
They could hurt the Russian economy, especially the aluminum, financial and energy sectors, and are a clear message to Putin and his inner circle of US displeasure.
In announcing the sanctions, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement, “The Russian government operates for the disproportionate benefit of oligarchs and government elites.”
He said Moscow “engages in a range of malign activity around the globe, including continuing to occupy Crimea and instigate violence in eastern Ukraine, supplying the Assad regime with material and weaponry as they bomb their own civilians, attempting to subvert Western democracies, and malicious cyber activities.”
Shares in Russian aluminum producer Rusal were down 2.2 per cent on Moscow’s exchange after the company was named on the sanctions list. Russian state companies under the US sanctions will receive additional government support, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said, according to Interfax.
US intelligence agencies last year accused Russia of using hacking and disseminating false information and propaganda to disrupt the 2016 elections and eventually try to ensure Trump defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump’s election campaign colluded with Russia, something that Trump denies. Mueller has indicted 13 Russians and three organizations in his probe.
Elizabeth Rosenberg, a former senior US Treasury Department official who is now a senior fellow at the Centre for a New American Security think tank, said the sanctions were significant, although there is more to do.
“I’m impressed by how aggressive this is,” she said. “I thought it would be serious and this is certainly a very serious statement of US policy.
“I would hasten to say that Russia hawks may welcome this but wouldn’t find it satisfying. And by no means would this be the sum total of what the US government should do to advance its concerns.”
Trump has faced fierce criticism — including from fellow Republicans — for doing too little to punish Russia for the election meddling, aggression in Ukraine, and support of President Bashar al Assad in Syria’s civil war.
He angered many members of Congress by failing for months to implement sanctions on Russia that lawmakers passed nearly unanimously last year.
But pressure for the United States to take action against Russia, especially from US lawmakers, has been increasing.
THE SANCTIONS ARE LARGELY A REPLY TO WHAT US INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES SAY WAS RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION