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DEMOCRATSU.S. and U.K. Consider New Sanctions on Russia Over Syria
It's downright amazing that we went from a joint agreement to work together against Isis in Syria to sanctions and talk of nuclear war in a matter of weeks
He will draw a red line in the sand. He has a battery operated fan that can erase it in seconds.DEMOCRATSU.S. and U.K. Consider New Sanctions on Russia Over Syria
It's downright amazing that we went from a joint agreement to work together against Isis in Syria to sanctions and talk of nuclear war in a matter of weeks
Well they can't really blame the rest of us for it can they?DEMOCRATSU.S. and U.K. Consider New Sanctions on Russia Over Syria
It's downright amazing that we went from a joint agreement to work together against Isis in Syria to sanctions and talk of nuclear war in a matter of weeks
Trump, in an interview with the newspaper published online on Sunday, was deeply critical of previous U.S. foreign policy, describing the invasion of Iraq as possibly the gravest error in the history of the United States and akin to “throwing rocks into a beehive”. But ahead of his inauguration on Friday as the 45th U.S. president, Trump raised the prospect of the first major step toward nuclear arms control since President Barack Obama struck a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia in 2010. "They have sanctions on Russia — let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia," the Republican president-elect was quoted as saying by The Times. "For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it. But Russia’s hurting very badly right now because of sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are gonna benefit."
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City
The United States and Russia are by far the world's biggest nuclear powers. The United States has 1,367 nuclear warheads on deployed strategic missiles and bombers, while Russia has 1,796 such deployed warheads, according to the latest published assessment by the U.S. State Department. Trump has vowed to improve relations with Moscow even as he faces criticism he is too eager to make an ally of Putin, a former KGB spy who rose to the top of the Kremlin in 1999. The issue has faced renewed scrutiny after an unsubstantiated report that Russia had collected compromising information about Trump.
The unverified dossier was summarized in a U.S. intelligence report presented to him and Obama this month that concluded Russia tried to sway the outcome of the Nov. 8 election in Trump's favor by hacking and other means. The report did not make an assessment on whether Russia's attempts affected the election's outcome. Trump accused U.S. intelligence agencies of leaking the dossier information, which he called "fake news" and phony stuff." Intelligence leaders denied the charge.
RUSSIAN RELATIONS
Brennan rebuked Trump for comparing U.S. intelligence agencies to Nazi Germany in comments by the outgoing CIA chief that reflected the extraordinary friction between the incoming president and the 17 intelligence agencies he will begin to command once he takes office on Friday. In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Brennan questioned the message sent to the world if the president-elect broadcasts that he does not have confidence in the United States' own intelligence agencies. "What I do find outrageous is equating the intelligence community with Nazi Germany. I do take great umbrage at that, and there is no basis for Mr. Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly," Brennan said.
Brennan's criticism followed a tumultuous week of finger-pointing between Trump and intelligence agency leaders over an unsubstantiated report that Russia had collected compromising information about Trump. The unverified dossier was summarized in a U.S. intelligence report presented to Trump and outgoing President Barack Obama this month that concluded Russia tried to sway the outcome of the Nov. 8 election in Trump's favor by hacking and other means. The report did not make an assessment on whether Russia's attempts affected the election's outcome.
CIA Director John Brennan prepares to testify to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on “Russia’s intelligence activities'' on Capitol Hill in Washington
Trump has accused the intelligence community of leaking the dossier information, which its leaders denied. They said it was their responsibility to inform the president-elect that the allegations were being circulated. Later on Sunday, Trump took to Twitter to berate Brennan and wrote, "Was this the leaker of Fake News?" In a separate posting, Trump scolded "those intelligence chiefs" for presenting the dossier as part of their briefing. "When people make mistakes, they should APOLOGIZE," he wrote. Brennan also sounded an alarm on U.S. relations with Russia. Trump has vowed to improve relations with Moscow even as he faces criticism that he is too eager to make an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump does not yet have a full understanding of Russia's actions, Brennan said, noting its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, its support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war and Moscow's aggressive activities in the cyber realm. "Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia of various actions it has taken in the past number of years is a road that he, I think, needs to be very, very careful about moving down," Brennan said. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Friday, Trump suggested he might do away with sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on Russia in late December in response to the cyber attacks if Moscow proves helpful in battling terrorists and reaching other U.S. goals.
PROFOUND IMPLICATIONS
The reports are part of a sanctions bill passed overwhelmingly by Congress soon after U.S. President Donald Trump took office and signed by him in August last year, despite campaign pledges to improve ties with Russia.
WHAT ARE THE SANCTIONS?
The Aug. 2 sanctions bill expands and toughens those already in force against Russia in response to its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and support for separatist rebels fighting in the east of the country. It is intended to further punish Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, an accusation the Kremlin has repeatedly denied. The bill requires the U.S. Treasury Department to prepare a list of the most significant Russian oligarchs “as determined by their closeness to the Russian regime and their net worth”. This will be accompanied by a report “describing in detail the potential effects of expanding sanctions ... to include sovereign debt and the full range of derivative products.” Both reports are due to be sent to Congress by the end of January, weeks before Russia is due to vote in a presidential election which Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win.
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES?
While inclusion on the new list of individuals would not automatically lead to immediate sanctions, some members of Russia’s business elite have said being named is a major concern because the criteria and consequences are unclear. If sanctions are tightened later, based on the list due next week, this could prevent some of the Kremlin’s closest allies from traveling abroad or accessing foreign bank accounts. It may also trigger a freeze of foreign assets and make foreign politicians, banks and officials reluctant to have dealings with them. Such risks have already prompted some of Russia’s wealthiest people to distance themselves from Putin.
Expanding sanctions to cover debt and derivative products issued by the Russian government could impose restrictions on buying Russian treasury bonds, known as OFZs. Rouble-denominated OFZ bonds are popular with international investors because of their lucrative yields. Foreign investors held 2.2 trillion rubles ($39 billion) of OFZs as of Dec. 1 last year. Russian officials have played down the possible consequences of sanctioning OFZs and other debt instruments, but doing so could make it harder for the government to cover its budget deficit at a time when the economy is still fragile as a result of a two-year economic downturn.
HOW ARE MARKETS REACTING?
The country’s economic malaise, multiple bank bail-outs and concerns about fresh sanctions weighed on the relative performance of Russia’s main stock market last year, although a recovering oil price has helped cushion the impact. With key export crude oil hitting 3-year highs in recent weeks both the rouble and Russian stocks have risen - the main MOEX index is at a record high - although some say sanctions worries have still hampered gains. Demand for its high-yielding sovereign debt has remained consistently strong. At the end of December, foreigners held 32.1 percent of issued debt, just off the record high of 33.2 percent hit in October. Analysts at Bank of America say U.S. curbs on bond buying would lead to “material” pressure, although they - like most investors - consider it unlikely.
In defensive mode since the first round of sanctions, many Russian firms are sitting on healthier cash piles this time or have gone into the market to raise more, suggesting the broad-market impact of further sanctions could be more muted. Russian companies raised around $8 billion via share sales in 2017, more than double the amount raised in the prior year. They have also been active on the debt markets, raising as much as $2 billion through Eurobond issues in the first weeks of 2018 already, while others have looked to firm up lines of credit with their banks. On Thursday, Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM) said it had agreed fresh credit lines with several Russian banks in case sanctions contribute to any worsening of its business outlook.
WHAT ARE INVESTORS SAYING?
“We will carry out only sanctions which are adopted by the UN Security Council. We don’t recognize one-sided American sanctions, we have no international obligations to comply with them,” RIA quoted Morgulov as saying.
Morgulov also said Russia would not expel North Korean citizens who are subject to U.S. sanctions, and the U.S. special representative for North Korea had been invited to visit Moscow, RIA reported.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...sanction-on-north-korea-idUSKBN1FF2CB[/auote]
Related:
U.S. hits Russian deputy minister and energy firms with sanctions
January 26, 2018 - The United States added Russian officials and energy firms to a sanctions blacklist on Friday, days before details of further possible penalties against Moscow are due to be released.
Washington could release reports as early as Monday laying out the possibilities for expanded sanctions against Russia over its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, an accusation the Kremlin has repeatedly denied. Russia is already under U.S. sanctions over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and support for separatist rebels fighting in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury Department said it had added 21 people and nine companies to the sanctions list, including some that had been involved in the delivery of Siemens (SIEGn.DE) gas turbines to Crimea.
It said Friday’s announcement was not related to the reports due on Monday. “Today’s action is part of Treasury’s continued commitment to maintain sanctions pressure on Russia,” the department said in a statement. “This action underscores the U.S. government’s opposition to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and firm refusal to recognize its attempted annexation of the peninsula.” The Ukraine-related sanctions represent one of the many areas of tension between the United States and Russia, including over how to end the Syrian civil war and whether to hold to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign emphasis on improving ties with Moscow.
One of the people added to the list was Russian Deputy Energy Minister Andrey Cherezov, who was put under sanctions by the European Union over his role in the delivery of turbines to Crimea last year. The list also now includes Sergey Topor-Gilka, head of the Russian engineering company Technopromexport, as well as multiple subsidiaries of oil producer Surgutneftegaz (SNGS.MM), the Treasury Department said. A spokeswoman for Rostec, which is already subject to U.S. sanctions and is the parent company of Technopromexport, said the company regretted that the main U.S. main tool in international relations was pressure and not dialogue. The Russian Energy Ministry declined immediate comment.
Daniel Fried, a former U.S. State Department expert, said he viewed Friday’s announcement as “sanctions maintenance” - essentially targeting individuals and entities that have taken the place of others who have earlier been sanctioned. “To make sure a sanctions regime is effective, you need to update it periodically. You don’t simply target people and let it sit, because other people fill in and do the same bad deeds that you targeted the first ones for,” Fried said. RIA news agency quoted Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia’s upper house of parliament, as saying: “This is not a policy of sanctions, it is a policy of containing a growing Russia as much as possible. The Americans declared war on us. We draw conclusions from this and move on.”
Separately, the United States could release reports as early as Monday outlining the scope for expanding sanctions against Russia, including a list of prominent oligarchs and potential restrictions on the holding of Russian government debt. The Aug. 2 sanctions bill requires the U.S. Treasury Department to prepare a list of the most significant Russian oligarchs “as determined by their closeness to the Russian regime and their net worth”. This will be accompanied by a report “describing in detail the potential effects of expanding sanctions ... to include sovereign debt and the full range of derivative products.” Both reports are due to be sent to Congress by the end of January, weeks before Russia is due to vote in a presidential election which Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win.
U.S. hits Russian deputy minister and energy firms with sanctions
Additional...
Russia says new U.S. sanctions are destructive step, will retaliate: RIA
January 26, 2018 - New U.S. sanctions against Russia are a destructive step which further worsens relations between Moscow and Washington, RIA news agency cited a senior Russian lawmaker as saying on Friday.
The United States added Russian officials and energy firms to a sanctions blacklist earlier on Friday, days before details of further possible penalties against Moscow are due to be released.
Leonid Slutsky, head of the lower house of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said Russia would retaliate against the new sanctions, RIA reported.
Russia says new U.S. sanctions are destructive step, will retaliate: R
