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 US sanctions over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and support for separatist rebels fighting in eastern Ukraine. The US 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 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 US government''s opposition to Russia''s occupation of Crimea and firm refusal to recognise 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, 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.