"Maniacal desire to constrain Trump": why the US Congress is in favor of new sanctions against Russia

In Moscow, there are concerns that the US sanctions spiral against Russia may continue to be twisted. Previously, US senators attributed the Russian Federation to "sponsoring states of international terrorism".

The group of senators has developed a new bill, which calls on President Trump "to support efforts to counter the interference of the Russian government and other foreign players in the activities of US state institutions, as well as in the democratic processes in the country."

In addition, the senators emphasize that it is necessary "to publicly urge Russia to return the Crimea to Ukraine's control, to abandon support for separatist violence in the east of Ukraine and stop supporting the Syrian President Bashar Assad."

The legislative project published on the official website of the upper house of the US Congress also says that all transactions of such banking structures as Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Vnesheconombank, Bank of Moscow, Rosselkhozbank and Promsvyazbank are prohibited.

"Absolutely immoral"

"Firstly, we should not react to paranoia," RT First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Jabarov said. - To blame the country that the only one really fought against terrorism, in fact, broke the back of the IG * and saved the whole state - the SAR, in the sponsorship of terrorism is absolutely immoral. "

Jabarov believes that Americans are carried away in their sanctioning efforts and have crossed a certain line that can not be disregarded in international relations.

"Why are they pushing Russia? To direct conflict? They understand that this conflict will be fatal for everyone. Not to search for common ground - they only exacerbate everything, "Jabarov said.

The Russian parliamentarian believes that on the eve of the congressional elections the Americans "forgot all the limits of decency". "They accuse Russia of what they should blame themselves for," the parliamentarian is convinced. - Let them remember how they created Al-Qaeda **, how they created the so-called Syrian opposition, and, in fact, terrorist brigades that fought not only with the Assad regime, but with all with whom they can. And the fact that they touched the personality of our president is in general unacceptable. "

In turn, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky believes that the new initiative of the US senators is a clear demonstration of the favorite reception of the American establishment "the tail wags the dog".

"In their maniacal drive to contain President Trump, United States lawmakers have agreed to say that Russia is a sponsor of terrorism," the MP said. "At the same time, the facts that the United States as a result of its criminal policy in the Middle East actually contributed to the emergence of Al-Qaeda, the IG and the Jabhat al-Nusra *** are completely discounted.

According to him, a new cold war is waged against Russia, and it is much more rigid and unprincipled than during the times of the USSR.

"In the fuse of domestic political struggle or for the sake of establishing their own hegemony across the ocean, they are ready to deliberately distort the image of our country in the world," said Slutsky. "However, we are counting on the enlightenment of Europe." The European Union, to which the authors of the bill also appeal, should not, as in the case of refusal to resume anti-Iran sanctions, support the tightening of the sanctions regime against the Russian Federation. "

New Sanction Package

The initiative of US senators may well become the force of law, believes deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts PFUR Nikita Danyuk.

"This is now an integral part of diplomatic practices and rhetoric in the US, and it is not surprising that they are likely to prepare a new package of sanctions," the international political analyst believes. - It's not a fact that this edition will be final, but it was obvious that the sanctions regime will continue, because it is a follow-up to the long-term geopolitical and geo-economic tasks of the United States. But in order to introduce them, you need a formal reason. As we see, there are plenty of them - this is the situation in Syria, where we have completely different interests, and the situation in Ukraine. "

Danyuk is sure that at the present time it is the anti-Russian theme that is the main issue not only of America's foreign, but also domestic policy.

"Attempts to strangle our country will continue, our cooperation with Europe in the field of energy, high technology and industrial production is unprofitable, and in this context they will try to ensure that our banks, our capitals and companies that enter the world markets are punished and restrictive measures, "the expert said.

He recalled that the principle of extraterritoriality has not yet been fully applied, according to which not only domestic companies and state corporations will be subject to sanctions, but also those companies that cooperate with our business and state and have the jurisdiction of third countries.

Against Russia

A group of senators introduced their anti-Russian bill for more than three months before the congressional elections. Senators representing both parties in the US Congress proposed a bill that would "allow more severe sanctions on Russia if it continues to interfere in the elections in the United States," USA Today reports.

The co-authors of the bill are Republicans Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Corey Gardner, as well as Democrats Bob Menendez, Ben Cardin and Jeanne Shahin.

According to one of the initiators of the bill, Senator Graham, quoted by the official Internet resource of the US Senate, the goal of their initiative is to impose crushing sanctions and other measures against "Russia until it ceases to exist and stops interfering in the US election process , will not stop cyber attacks against US infrastructure, will not leave Ukraine and will not stop efforts to create chaos in Syria. "

Another co-author of the anti-Russian law, Senator Gardner, noted that "unless Russia significantly changes its course of action, the US should not repeat the mistakes of past administrations in their efforts to normalize relations with a country that continues to pose a serious threat to the United States and its allies" .

The content of the anti-Russian bill

Details of the bill are set out on the official portal of the upper house of Congress. The draft of the new law stipulates the following key provisions concerning Russia.

The bill provides for reducing the dependence of some NATO countries on Russian military equipment. He is also called upon to put pressure on the Russian government to stop his interference in international efforts to investigate the use of chemical weapons, and also seriously punish the Russian government "for the production and use of chemical weapons."

The new initiative prescribes sanctions against politicians, oligarchs and others who allegedly directly or indirectly contribute to the illegal and corrupt activities "on behalf of" President Vladimir Putin.

It provides for a new sanction draft law and sectoral sanctions against any person in the Russian Federation "who has a tendency to support or facilitate malicious cyber-activity." It is also planned to prohibit the issuance of licenses for citizens of the United States to participate in activities related to some oil production projects in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Also, the new bill envisages the creation of a national response center for the "hybrid" threats emanating from Russia, and Moscow's restriction of actions in the Interpol line.

* "Islamic State" (IG) - the organization is recognized as terrorist by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.

** "Al Qaeda" - the organization is recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 14.02.2003.

*** "Jabhat Fatah ash-Sham" ("Front an Nusra", "Jabhat an Nusra") - the organization is recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 29.12.2014.