Trump refrains from imposing new round of sanctions, citing damage already done

2018/1/31 2:07:14

Analyst: While some are interpreting this latest move on sanctions as Trump revealing his Russophile leanings (even by news agencies such as Reuters), we are confident that he has largely handed control of his foreign policy to neoconservatives who are hawks on Russia, including Volker and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.

 


KYIV, Jan 31, 2018 - The Trump administration has refrained from imposing a new round of sanctions against the Russian government that had been part of legislation signed by the U.S. president in August, Concorde Capital informed clients based on a Reuters news agency report on Jan. 29. The Reuters report cited comments made that day by Heather Nauert, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman. The U.S. State Department informed the U.S. Congress on Jan. 29 that the implementation of the August legislation has already succeeded in deterring planned or announced Russian military hardware sales in the amount of several billion dollars, she said, not announcing any new sanctions.  From that viewpoint, “if the law is working, sanctions on specific entities or individuals will not need to be imposed because the legislation is, in fact, serving as a deterrent,” she said.

 

The U.S. Treasury Department released on Jan. 29 a list of 210 Russian officials and billionaires believed to have close ties to Russian President Putin, exposing them to scrutiny and potential future sanctions, the RFE/RL news agency reported this morning. The Kremlin Report, also known as the Putin List and Oligarchs List, names 114 senior Russian political figures and 96 oligarchs who U.S. authorities say have gained wealth or power through association with Putin. The report itself doesn’t impose sanctions but could be used for future sanctions and is intended to dissuade banks and businesses from engaging in enterprise with those listed.

 

Earlier on Jan. 29, the U.S. State Department said that, if fresh U.S. sanctions are imposed in connection with the legislation, “they would primarily be on non-Russian entities that are responsible for significant transactions with Russia’s defense and intelligence sector.” Nauert didn’t mention the individuals in the Kremlin Report, stating that the State Department “does not preview” its sanctions actions.

 

Zenon Zawada: The idea to refrain from sanctions, which was driven by Trump’s foreign policy team that includes Kurt Volker, is related to increasing U.S.-Russia tensions in recent weeks and Russia’s recent indication that it will consider the UN peacekeeping option. Besides an escalation in fighting in Donbas this weekend, Russian banking executive Andrei Kostin warned the Davos forum last week that escalating sanctions would be considered a “declaration of war” by the Russian leadership. At the same time, Russian presidential advisor Vladislav Surkov said U.S. proposals for a UN peacekeeping mission are “entirely realistic” and will be considered.

 

In light of this, both the Russians and Americans are considering the UN peacekeeping option to fulfill the Minsk Accords, or as an alternative. However, we believe that no agreement on a peacekeeping mission will be reached before the March 2018 Russian presidential elections, and not likely before Ukraine holds its elections in 2019. We also view reaching agreement on a UN peacekeeping mission extremely difficult to achieve, given the lack of trust between the two sides.

 

While some are interpreting this latest move on sanctions as Trump revealing his Russophile leanings (even by news agencies such as Reuters), we are confident that he has largely handed control of his foreign policy to neoconservatives who are hawks on Russia, including Volker and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. The idea to refrain on sanctions is a strategic move in the unchanging American plan to hold Russia responsible for its actions in Ukraine, rather than any indication of a shift towards appeasing Russia.

###

 

For more information, link here: www.concorde.ua

Printer Friendly Page Send this Story to a Friend Create a PDF from the article