The US launches 'draconian sanctions' against Russia: what and to whom will be banned

The United States has launched a mechanism for reviewing a package of measures against Russia, which received the unofficial name “draconian sanctions,” reported the Russian Service Bi-bi-si State Department spokesman David Tessler.

Фото: Depositphotos

The first package of restrictions was introduced at the end of August 2018, as a reaction of the United States to the poisoning in Britain of the former GRU colonel Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a little-known nerve agent.

Congress gave Russia 90 days to explain the situation with the poisoning of Skripale in Salisbury, as well as to provide guarantees that it will no longer produce and use chemical weapons.

“Today we informed Congress that the Russian government has not met previously stated criteria. Consequently, the mechanism for introducing a second round of sanctions is launched. The law does not provide for the mandatory entry into force of sanctions today. So we are not announcing the entry into force of any restrictions,” a State Department spokesman explained to the BBC.

“We are going to carefully and thoughtfully work through our next steps. We will inform you about what they will be later,” he added.

What to expect?

The second package of sanctions implies the introduction of severe restrictions on Russia.

• The ban for US banks to provide loans to the government of Russia, if it is not loans to buy food or agricultural products.
• Almost complete ban on mutual trade. An exception is the export of agricultural goods from the USA.
• Restricting or freezing diplomatic relations between the United States and the Russian government.
• A ban on air travel for companies controlled by the country's government. Aeroflot falls under this standard.

The law also provides for the introduction of personal sanctions against people involved in the distribution of chemical weapons.

We are talking about a ban on any contracts and transactions between the US government and people from the “black” list. It also prohibits the importation into the United States of products or services produced by sanctioned entities or their associated companies.

Exceptions are products or services that are particularly significant to US security, or situations where it is not possible to replace a supplier.

“Sanctions are working. They cause losses to the Russian authorities, as well as to those who help Russia carry out its subversive actions. We are making sure that there is greater retribution for the actions of all these actors,” Tessler said in an interview with the BBC.

“We want to convey to them the message that they cannot continue to commit such actions with impunity. Sanctions will remain in place until we see a fundamental change in behavior,” he added.

And that is not all

In parallel with the “draconian sanctions,” the US Congress is also considering a bill that its authors dubbed “sanctions from hell.”

The economic part of the bill contains a ban on operations and freezing of assets in the United States of seven Russian banking institutions already in the sanction regime, including Sberbank, VTB, VEB and Promsvyazbank.

In practice, this will mean that these banks will not be able to receive standard dollar payments through correspondent accounts with US banks.

In addition, the text contains a de facto ban on operations with the Russian state debt with a maturity of more than two weeks (but this will only apply to new issues).

The document proposes to extend monitoring of the violation of sanctions on the activities of insurance companies and other items, as well as to recognize Russia as a state sponsoring terrorism.

“The bills being considered in the Senate indicate deep and serious dissatisfaction on the part of Congress, the administration and the people of the United States due to the growing subversion on the part of Russia. And this activity [of Moscow] continues despite all the steps on our part,” a State Department spokesman told the BBC.

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