United States prepares more sanctions against Russia for cyber espionage and interference in internal affairs

Administration of Joe Biden is said to be finalizing a new round of sanctions against individuals and entities in Russia for their improper conduct in meddling in internal affairs, as in the elections, and could be announced this Thursday.

The new battery of sanctions would include a dozen people, including government and intelligence officials, as well as around 20 entities, according to people familiar with the matter. they detailed Bloomberg.

On the other hand, this package of sanctions would also include the expulsion of a dozen Russian officials and diplomats.

Sanctions would be framed, according to Washington, in electoral interference, as well as in the cyberattack of the company SolarWinds.

These measures are said to be taken after a telephone conversation between the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin., that same Tuesday, during which he opened the possibility of a summit between the two nations in a third country.

For its part, the Kremlin said Thursday that the new American sanctions would not favor the organization of the Biden-Putin summit proposed by the White House. “What is currently being discussed – likely sanctions – will in no way favor such a meeting.“Estimated the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov.

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, on his first day in office, ordered a review of relations with Russia, which so far means sanctioning Russian officials for the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Biden also raised tensions when, in a TV interview, he answered yes to a question asking if “Putin is a murderer.”

But not only did Washington take action, from Moscow they called their ambassador to the United States to reassess relations in March, and they have already announced that they have no plans to return in the near future.

however, Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel jointly called on Russia on Wednesday to cut troops on Ukrainian border, taking into account the increase in ground tension.

In a telephone interview, the two leaders agreed that a positive reception from Moscow would help to allow a “de-escalation” of the situation, said the spokesperson for Merkel it is a statement.

The statements are in line with those made by the foreign ministers of the two countries as well as their G7 counterparts, who called on Tuesday in a joint statement that Russia “cease its provocations” and “reduce tensions” in the region. “These large-scale troop movements, without prior notification, represent threatening and destabilizing activities,” said the diplomatic leaders of the powers with European Chancellor Josep Borrell.

In particular, they asked the government of Vladimir Putin to respect the principles and commitments of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that it has signed on the transparency of military movements and to respond to the established procedure. in Chapter III (Risk Reduction) of the Vienna Document on Confidence and Security Building Measures.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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