Biden takes action against Russia
Administration expels diplomats, imposes sanctions over election meddling, cyberattack
The Biden Administration has announced that the United States will expel 10 Russian diplomats and impose sanctions against several dozen people and companies, holding the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year’s presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies.
The sweeping measures are meant to punish Russia for actions US officials say cut to the core of American democracy and to deter future acts by imposing economic costs on Moscow, including by targeting its ability to borrow money.
The sanctions, announced yesterday, are certain to exacerbate tensions with Russia, which promised retaliation, even as President Joe Biden said the Administration could have taken even more punitive measures but chose not to in the interests of maintaining stability.
“We cannot allow a foreign power to interfere in our democratic process with impunity,” Biden said at the White House.
Sanctions against six Russian companies that support the country’s cyber efforts represent the first measures against the Kremlin for the hack familiarly known as the
SolarWinds breach, with the US explicitly linking the intrusion to the SVR, a Russian intelligence agency. Though such intelligence-gathering missions are not uncommon, officials said they were determined to respond because of the operation’s broad scope and the high cost of the intrusion on private companies.
The US also announced sanctions on 32 individuals and entities accused of attempting to influence last year’s presidential election, including by spreading disinformation.
US officials alleged in a declassified report last month that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised influence operations to help Donald Trump in his failed bid for re-election as President, though there’s no evidence Russia or anyone else changed votes or manipulated the outcome.
The actions, foreshadowed by the Administration for weeks, signal a harder line against Putin, whom Trump was reluctant to criticise even as his Administration pursued sanctions against Moscow.
Biden said that when he advised Putin days earlier of the forthcoming measures — which included expulsion of the 10 diplomats, some of them representatives of Russian intelligence services — he told the Russian leader “that we could have gone further but I chose not to do so”.
“We want,” he said, “a stable, predictable relationship”.
Even so, Russian officials spoke of a swift response, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warning that “a series of retaliatory measures will
come in the nearest time”.
Other American measures are expected, though the Administration is not likely to announce them.
Officials have advised that their response to Russia would be in ways both seen and unseen.
It is unclear whether the new US actions will result in changed behaviour, especially since past measures — both Trump and Barack Obama expelled individual diplomats during their presidencies — have failed to bring an end to Russian hacking.
But experts suggest this latest round, even while not guaranteed to curb cyberattacks, might have more resonance because of its financial impact: The order makes it harder for Russia to borrow money by barring US banks from buying Russian bonds directly from the Russian Central Bank, Russian National Wealth Fund and Finance Ministry.
It could complicate Russian efforts to raise capital and give companies pause about doing business in Russia.
Among the companies sanctioned are websites US officials say operate as fronts for Russian intelligence agencies and spread disinformation, including articles alleging widespread voter fraud in 2020.
The individuals who were targeted include Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian and Ukrainian political consultant who worked with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and who was indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Also sanctioned were the Kremlin’s first deputy chief of staff, Alexei Gromov, several individuals linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with close ties to Russia’s President, and several front companies the US says helped Prigozhin evade sanctions imposed earlier.
The US also sanctioned eight individuals and entities tied to Russia’s occupation in Crimea.