US expels Russians, imposes sanctions
The United States yesterday announced sanctions and the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats in retaliation for what Washington says is the Kremlin’s US election interference, a massive cyberattack and other hostile activity.
President Joe Biden’s broadside against Russia came the same week as he offered to meet President Vladimir Putin for their first summit — an idea he reiterated yesterday, explaining that despite the sanctions it was now “time to deescalate”.
Washington is “not looking to kick off a cycle of escalation and conflict with Russia,” Mr Biden said, calling the sanctions “proportionate”.
In his executive order, the Democratic president widened restrictions on US banks trading in Russian government debt, expelled 10 diplomats who include alleged spies, and sanctioned 32 individuals accused of meddling in the 2020 presidential election.
Mr Biden’s 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 destabilising international action,” the White House said.
The Kremlin said sanctions would not “help” momentum for a summit and the Russian foreign ministry warned a Russian riposte was “inevitable”.
The latest tension comes against a backdrop of long-term anger in Washington at Russian election meddling and fears both in the United States and its European allies over Russia’s recent troop build-up on its border with Ukraine.
The almost fatal poisoning and ongoing imprisonment of Alexei Navalny, who is effectively the last open political opponent to Mr Putin, has further spiked concerns in the West.
A senior US official said Washington was ready to impose more measures if necessary and also that additional actions were already in place but “will remain unseen”.
Despite this, Mr Biden stressed he wanted to work with Russia and that a summit could allow them to “launch a strategic stability dialogue” on a host of global issues, ranging from Covid-19 to Iran’s nuclear programme.
On Ukraine, however, Mr Biden said he’d “strongly urged” Putin “to refrain from any military action” and he “affirmed US support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
After Donald Trump’s mixed signals to Russia — and accusations that the Republican even seemed intent on shielding Mr Putin from criticism — the Democratic chair of the Senate foreign relations committee cheered Mr Biden’s approach.
“It is reassuring and frankly a relief to have a president willing to clearly call Putin what he is — a killer, a military aggressor in Ukraine, a source of malign influence, a cyber threat,” said Senator Bob Menendez.
The sanctions are designed to hurt Russia’s economy by making it harder to raise money on international markets.
The White House highlighted 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 referred to claims that Russian intelligence agencies mounted persistent disinformation and dirty tricks campaigns during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, partly to help Mr Trump.