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Photos: MCT, Reuters
President Trump (L) and President Putin
Photos: MCT, Reuters

US imposes new sanctions on Russia, also targets Putin's son-in-law

President Trump's administration announces major new sanctions on Russia, most stringent since advent of 2014's Crimean conflict; targeted are Russian oligarchs, including President Putin's son-in-law, and arms company with ties to Syria; Russia promises to provide more governmental support to companies harmed by sanctions.

The United States imposed major sanctions on Friday against 24 Russians, striking at allies of President Vladimir Putin in one of Washington's most aggressive moves to punish Moscow for what it called a range of "malign activity," including alleged meddling in the 2016 US election.

 

 

The sanctions, administration officials said, were some of the toughest since the sanctions Washington levied on Russia in 2014, in the wake of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula from the Ukraine.

 

In announcing the sanctions, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement, "The Russian government operates for the disproportionate benefit of oligarchs and government elites."

 

Multiple individuals and companies in President Putin (L)'s Russia were targeted by sanctions imposed by US President Trump's administration (Photo: Reuters)
Multiple individuals and companies in President Putin (L)'s Russia were targeted by sanctions imposed by US President Trump's administration (Photo: Reuters)
 

He said Moscow "engages in a range of malign activity around the globe, including continuing to occupy Crimea and instigate violence in eastern Ukraine, supplying the Assad regime with material and weaponry as they bomb their own civilians, attempting to subvert Western democracies, and malicious cyber activities."

 

The action, taken under pressure from the US Congress, freezes the US assets of "oligarchs" such as aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska, a close associate of Putin, and lawmaker Suleiman Kerimov, whose family controls Russia's largest gold producer, Polyus.

 

Also targeted is Kirill Shamalov, a minority shareholder with petrochemical company Sibur. Shamalov married Putin's youngest daughter Katerina in 2013, multiple sources who were at the wedding told Reuters. After the marriage, he swiftly grew his wealth through investments in Sibur but unconfirmed media reports say Shamalov and Putin's daughter have since split.

 

Shamalov is the son of Nikolay Shamalov, an old friend of Putin's and shareholder of a Russian bank American officials have termed Russian elite's private bank.

 

Putin's son-in-law Kirill Shamalov was targeted by the new US sanctions (Photo: Reuters)
Putin's son-in-law Kirill Shamalov was targeted by the new US sanctions (Photo: Reuters)

 

Also targeted by sanctions is Russian arms company Rosoboronexport, connected to arms deals with Syria.

 

The sanctions could hurt the Russian economy, especially the aluminum, financial and energy sectors, and are a clear message to Putin and his inner circle of US displeasure.

 

"Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government's destabilizing activities," Treasury Secretary Mnuchin added.

 

Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Russia's upper house of parliament, said the sanctions were baseless and unfriendly, Interfax news agency reported.

 

'Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government's destabilizing activities,' Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said (Photo: AP)
'Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government's destabilizing activities,' Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said (Photo: AP)

 

Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, for his part, said Russian state companies under US sanctions will receive additional government support, according to Interfax.

 

US intelligence agencies determined officially last year that Russia covertly meddled—partly by hacking the computers of senior American officials—in the 2016 presidential elections in order to get President Donald Trump elected.

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.07.18, 11:44
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