Moscow considers the sanctions imposed by the United States against the Russian Central Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIHM) illegitimate.

This was stated by Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov.

This statement was made by the Russian diplomat after Washington on October 23 announced measures against the institute, accusing the organization of developing malicious software.

The US Treasury claims that the Triton program was used against US allies in the Middle East.

Antonov denied the accusations of the American side and called on the United States to "abandon the vicious practice of unfounded attacks."

“Russia, unlike the United States, does not conduct offensive operations in the cybersphere.

Malicious activity in the information space contradicts the principles of our foreign policy, national interests and understanding of interstate relations, ”the Russian diplomat emphasized.

Just a few days earlier, US senators from the Democratic and Republican parties sent a letter to the head of the State Department, Mike Pompeo, in which they demanded new sanctions against Moscow due to the incident with the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

A group of senators, which included Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin, known for their odious anti-Russian views, called for the use of the Magnitsky Act and the laws on the control of chemical and biological weapons.

Sanctions policy

The United States has been actively spinning the sanctions flywheel against Russia over the past decade, but it came to full capacity in 2014 - after the reunification of Crimea with the Russian Federation.

The Barack Obama administration introduced the first restrictions against individuals involved in the so-called "annexation" of the peninsula.

Subsequently, Washington has repeatedly expanded the sanctions list, including not only citizens, but also entire economic sectors.

Another expansion of restrictive measures followed in 2016, at the same time the United States lowered the level of bilateral cooperation, expelling 35 Russian diplomats from the country, and in 2017 - closing the Russian consulate in San Francisco.

This practice continued after Donald Trump took the presidency.

The Law on Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions (CAATSA) was passed, supplemented by amendments on Countering Russia in Europe and Eurasia (authored by the aforementioned Senator Ben Cardin), and sanctions were repeatedly introduced through the Ministry of Finance, the State Department and other departments.

Restrictions against Russia were initiated for any possible reason - for "interference" in the 2016 US presidential elections and cyberattacks, Moscow's alleged use of chemical weapons, for violating the sanctions regime against the DPRK, for supporting Syria and for cooperation with Venezuela.

In addition, US congressmen and senators are vying with each other to introduce restrictive measures against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which allegedly threatens Europe's energy security.

This discussion received a new impetus after the incident with the "poisoning" of Alexei Navalny - then the head of the State Department Mike Pompeo, the official representative of the department Megan Ortagus and Donald Trump himself spoke of the need to stop the construction of the gas pipeline, complaining that otherwise Germany would buy gas from Russia ...

Dubious effect

At the same time, it should be noted that in the American media themselves and expert communities, opinions periodically appear that differ from the statements of the White House and the Capitol that restrictive measures against Russia are a very effective tool of foreign policy.

In 2016, at the height of the sanctions pressure on Russia, the rather authoritative American magazine Foreign Policy published an article entitled “Sanctions failed ... Let's admit it.”

The publication admitted the ineffectiveness of the measures against Moscow.

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A similar opinion was expressed by the journalists of The Washington Post in 2017, when they published an article entitled “Are there any sense in sanctions?

There is no convincing evidence of this. "

“It can be argued that sanctions are among the most popular tools for responding to major foreign policy crises.

The problem, however, is that no one can say with certainty whether they work, "the newspaper wrote.

In 2019, the analytical portal Global Security Review noted that the use of sanctions as a method of pressure with which to force the Russian leadership "to take measures to change the country's foreign policy" is ineffective and "does not work as Western countries intended."

In particular, in the material of the portal it is noted that the sanctions aimed at preventing military-technical cooperation with other countries had low efficiency.

“In fact, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), this year Russia ranked second in terms of the volume of weapons produced.

Since 2017, this figure in Russia has grown by 8.5%, which equals $ 37.7 billion on an annualized basis. Large buyers of Russian weapons are India and China, which purchased S-400 missile defense systems last year, ”notes Global Security Review.

In turn, the Financial Times wrote earlier this year that, according to a number of economists, the overall economic picture in Russia is even better than if no sanctions were imposed.

This casts doubt on how effective a tool of foreign policy influence are the restrictive measures of the United States and the EU, the journalists of the publication emphasized.

The head of the IMF mission to Russia, James Roaf, attributed the current economic situation to "Moscow's commitment to a sound macroeconomic framework that supports economic activity by reducing uncertainty, curbing inflation and building confidence in the exchange rate," the newspaper said.

"The factor of unpredictability"

Analysts, in turn, note some paradox of the current situation - some representatives of the US political establishment argue that sanctions pressure on Russia needs to be increased precisely because the current restrictions against Moscow are ineffective.

In particular, a member of the Atlantic Council and a former functionary of the State Department Edward Fishman stated this in his article.

“The Russian economy has adapted, and now the Kremlin adheres to the rhetoric that America will“ never ”lift sanctions, and this leads to a decrease in interest in meeting US demands.

As a result, we have an ineffective sanctions program that no longer has a meaningful impact on Moscow and serves as a minimal diplomatic leverage for Washington, ”Fishman complains.

According to Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the prevailing point of view among the American establishment is that sanctions do not contribute much to the slowdown in Russia's economic growth, but worsen the situation and exacerbate the economic crisis, especially in certain sectors.

“Today, the United States has become a factor of unpredictability, at any time it can impose sanctions within the framework of unfair competition, based on the economic situation.

But the fact that the American economy itself is in a serious crisis will undoubtedly entail a revision of the sanctions policy.

As soon as it comes to Washington that the failure in the economy is too big, it needs to be taken out of the crisis, then international cooperation and foreign economic ties will be established, with the help of which it will be able to overcome it, ”Vasiliev predicts.

Yuri Rogulyov, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, shares a slightly different point of view.

In an interview with RT, he recalled that Washington has always willingly resorted to such an instrument of pressure as economic and political sanctions, and is unlikely to change its habits.

“The American government is confident that it is permissible to use such pressure mechanisms in relations with other countries.

As long as Washington considers itself entitled to “punish” other states for “behavior” that it thinks is inappropriate, this policy will continue, ”Rogulyov stressed.

At the same time, a further build-up of such pressure excludes the possibility of normalizing relations between the United States and Russia in the future, the expert is sure.

“Of course, unilateral sanctions weaken ties between states and impede their stabilization.

The fact is that the United States has ceased to perceive Russia as an equal partner, ”the political scientist noted.