Obama administration selective on Russia sanctions, McCain says

The U.S. government is only selectively enforcing its sanctions against Russia for its illegal annexation of Crimea, U.S. Senator John McCain said in June 2 letter submitted to U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, as reported by the freebeacon.com news site. McCain suggested that the Obama administration is giving special treatment to a Russian rocket manufacturer that – due to a recent restructuring – came under the control of Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos. The U.S. currently purchases Russian RD-180 rocket engines from the manufacturer, known as NPO Energomash, to use during national security space launches.

Numerous Roscosmos board members and executives have either been subject to economic sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or are connected to Russian corporations targeted by sanctions, McCain reported. The U.S. Congress capped the purchase of Russian engines are nine after the invasion, the report said. However, U.S. House lawmakers recently approved a version of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that would allow for the purchase of 18 RD-180 engines from Russia.

Zenon Zawada: Before even considering providing defensive, lethal armaments to Ukraine, the West needs to be consistent with its sanctions against Russia. The effectiveness of these sanctions has the potential to preclude the supply of any armaments, but that depends on their strict enforcement. Reports of the West failing to be consistent have also come from Europe, where numerous Russian lawmakers have freely traveled in the last year. If the Russians are able to find these loopholes, they won’t be intimidated by the sanctions, which is the case currently to a significant extent.