In the first major action by the Trump administration against Russia, the United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a host of Russian individuals and entities for their alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election and “malicious” cyber-attacks.
The US Treasury Department announced sanctions against 19 individuals, including the 13 indicted recently by Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of his Russia-related investigation, and five entities under the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)”.
They have also been proceeded against under an Executive Order, called “Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities”.
“The Administration is confronting and countering malign Russian cyber activity, including their attempted interference in U.S. elections, destructive cyber-attacks, and intrusions targeting critical infrastructure,” Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement, noting that the targeted sanctions are “a part of a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia”.
The Treasury sanctions came close on the heels of the Trump administration voicing its solidarity with the British action of expelling 23 Russian diplomats following Moscow’s “abhorrent” nerve agent attack on an ex-spy and his daughter.
“The United States stands in solidarity with its closest ally, the United Kingdom,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement, noting that the US shares Britain’s assessment that Russia is responsible for the reckless nerve agent attack on a British citizen and his daughter.
Calling the British expulsion of Russian diplomats “a just response”, Sanders went on to say: “This latest action by Russia fits into a pattern of behaviour in which Russia disregards the international rules-based order, undermines the sovereignty and security of countries worldwide, and attempts to subvert and discredit Western democratic institutions and processes.”
“The United States is working together with our allies and partners to ensure that this kind of abhorrent attack does not happen again,” Sanders said.
Subsequently, the US, along with France, Germany and the UK, issued a joint statement, terming the attack “an assault on the United Kingdom’s sovereignty”, adding that any such use by a state party is a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and a breach of international law that threatens the security of all.