U.S. senators prepare bill to impose new round of Russia sanctions

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, led by anti-Putin hawk John McCain, is preparing a new round of sanctions against top Russian officials not only for the government’s cyber-hacking attacks of the Democratic National Committee, but also Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine, the Washington Post reported on Jan. 10.

The new sanctions would impose more visa bans and asset freezes, as well as impose sanctions on transactions with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors, potentially making it harder for banks to do business with the Russian military and spy agencies, the politico.com news site reported. The bill would also codify Obama-era sanctions imposed on Russia for the 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea. The bill would prohibit any action that implies recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea.

Zenon Zawada: This bill is part of a last-minute rush that we anticipated, aimed at making it as difficult as possible for the Trump administration to relax or remove sanctions imposed against the Russian government. Though most of the sanctions were enacted by President Obama with resolutions, they are being encoded into law by the current legislative drive. So Trump won’t be able to remove many of the sanctions with the stroke of a pen.

We are doubtful that sanctions will be effective in convincing the Russian leadership to cease its occupation of Ukrainian territory. A new compromise, outside the Minsk Accords, needs to be reached that allows Russian President Putin to save face, while at the same time not granting legal recognition and absolution for his aggressive military actions, which has led to about 10,000 fatalities.