US sanctions Russia, expels 10 diplomats
RETALIATION FOR MEDDLING IN 2020 PRESIDENTIAL POLL
The US yesterday expelled 10 Russian diplomats and slapped sanctions on 32 entities and individuals in retaliation for the Kremlin meddling in the 2020 presidential election and a massive cyber attack.
US President Joe Biden’s broadside against Russia comes the same week that he offered to meet President Vladimir Putin for their first summit.
In an executive order, Biden also widened restrictions on US banks trading in Russian government debt. Biden’s order “sends a signal that the US will impose costs in a strategic and economically impactful manner on Russia if it continues or escalates its destabilising international action,” the White House said in a statement.
Russian foreign ministry says response ‘inevitable’
The Kremlin responded by saying that sanctions would not “help” momentum for a summit and the Russian foreign ministry warned a response was “inevitable.”
“The US is not ready to come to terms with the objective reality that there is a multipolar world that excludes American hegemony,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
The White House referred to allegations that Russian intelligence agencies mounted persistent disinformation and dirty tricks campaigns during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections to help Donald Trump.
The statement also referred to the massive so-called SolarWinds hack of US government computer systems last year.
It also called out Russia’s “targeting” of dissidents and journalists on foreign soil.
Russia to cut borrowing plan as rouble battered
Russia will cut its 2021 borrowing plan more than expected and will offer only new OFZ treasury bonds from June 14, the date after which US banks are barred from buying rouble-denominated state bonds directly from Russia.
The sanctions battered the rouble and state bonds.
The US also joined with European partners to sanction eight people and entities associated with Russia’s occupation in Crimea.
The United States yesterday imposed a broad array of sanctions on Russia to punish it for alleged interference in the 2020 US election, cyber-hacking, bullying Ukraine and other “malign” acts.
The measures blacklisted Russian companies, expelled Russian diplomats and placed limits on the Russian sovereign debt market. More penalties could come, although Washington did not want to escalate matters, the Biden administration said.
Moscow reacted angrily, saying this dangerously raised the temperature between the two countries. It summoned the US ambassador for what it said would be a tough conversation.
Among the actions, president Joe Biden issue an executive order authorising the US. government to sanction any sector of the Russian economy and used it to restrict Russia’s ability to issue sovereign debt to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2020 US. election, an allegation Russia denies.
Banks barred
Biden barred US financial institutions from taking part in the primary market for rouble-denominated Russian sovereign bonds from June 14. US banks have been barred from taking part in the primary market for non-rouble sovereign bonds since 2019.
The US Treasury also blacklisted 32 entities and individuals which it said had carried out Russian government-directed attempts to influence the 2020 US presidential election and other “acts of disinformation and interference”.
In concert with the European Union, Britain, Australia and Canada, the Treasury also sanctioned eight individuals associated with Russia’s ongoing occupation and repression in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
New executive order
The US government plans a new executive order to help strengthen its cybersecurity, a US official told reporters, suggesting it could include such elements as encryption and multifactor authentication. US intelligence agencies have “low to moderate” confidence in their assessment that Russia offered bounties to Talibanlinked militants to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan, a senior US official told reporters in a conference call.
“Given the sensitivity of this matter, which involves the safety and well-being of our forces, it is being handled through diplomatic, military and intelligence channels,” the White House said. US officials some of their response to Russian actions would be “unseen,” a hint they would involve US spy agencies.
His [US President Biden’s] goal is to provide a significant and credible response but not to escalate the situation.”
Jake Sullivan | National Security Adviser
Proportionate measures
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, described the sanctions as “proportionate measures to defend American interests in response to harmful Russian actions”.
“His (Biden’s) goal is to provide a significant and credible response but not to escalate the situation,” Sullivan told CNN.