Russian political expert Leonid Shvets commented on the new round of anti-Russian sanctions. For starters, he claims that Russia has already turned into America’s biggest enemy. The thing is that the new law signed by Donald Trump not so long ago is designed to fight America’s enemies with the help of sanctions. North Korea and Iran are also on the same list.
For those of you who don’t know, it all started in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimea. Instantly after that, it was excluded from the so-called G8. Later on, the Western world imposed sanctions on Russia. Yet, this is not the end. The recent document approved by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Trump is aimed at America’s enemies, but mostly at Russia. The thing is, 98 out of 184 pages of the document are dedicated to Russia. For the sake of comparison, the sanctions against Iran occupy 25 pages.
The document contains punishment for all the sins of Russia, from chasing lawyer Sergey Magnitsky to starting a war in Ukraine and interfering in the internal affairs of the U.S. and some European states. It all starts with imposing sanctions on Russian state-owned companies from the sector of natural gas production and some other sectors.
On top of that, the new round of sanctions is designed to toughen the sanctions imposed on Russian during the previous round. Yet, there is another important aspect to mention. From now on, the expert working for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the CIA, and the U.S. Department of State will be making annual reports on Russia’s political elite, including the relatives of Russian high-ranking politicians, the sources of their well-being, as well as foreigners cooperating with them. This is designed to find their weak spots, not to mention the fact that for Western businesses, contacting their Russian peers has now become toxic.
At the same time, those sanctions are going to last really long since now it’s not just a decision for the U.S. President. Now it’s a law, and both chambers of the U.S. Congress now have to approve any changes in this law, especially if someone wants to cancel it. Some experts recollect the amendment introduced in 1974 to limit the financial and trade relation between the USA and the USSR. This amendment was canceled only in 2012. This means that this is going to be a long story, especially as Putin is not going to back down.
