The United States extended for a year a number of anti-Russian sanctions packages imposed by Washington in connection with the situation in Ukraine, starting in 2014. The text of the relevant document, signed by President Donald Trump, is published on the White House website.

The presidential decree extends the measures taken during the previous administration of the White House (sanctions packages from March 6, 16 and 20, 2014 and December 20, 2014). The same applies to additional restrictions introduced by the current US leadership on September 20, 2018.

The restrictions imposed by these orders affected a number of Russian citizens, including senior officials, parliamentarians, and law enforcement officials.

The text of the document notes that "the actions and policies referred to in these decrees continue to represent an extraordinary and extreme threat to national security and the foreign policy of the United States."

“I will extend the national state of emergency declared in decree 13660 for a year,” reads the document Trump signed.

Commenting on this decision of the American authorities, a member of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, Sergei Tsekov, called it unjustified.

“Russia's actions do not damage US national security. It is the United States that is a danger to many countries of the world. Such a policy is dead end and leads nowhere. Most European leaders understand this, unlike the US leadership, ”the senator said in an interview with RT.

He also expressed the opinion that the political line chosen by the United States in 2014 would only lead to Washington becoming increasingly isolated: "All such actions are directed against themselves."

In turn, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies Volodymyr Bruter suggested that the United States did not expect to meet with resistance on the international stage in the situation with Ukraine.

“The United States would like no one to resist and object to them on the world political stage, so that everything is American. In Ukraine, this did not work out, Russia was able to confront the United States and largely offset the successes or expectations that Washington had after the events of 2014, ”the source said.

“Russia has shown that it must be reckoned with, that the American position and opinion, backed up by the inaction of other Western countries, will not have the effect that the United States would like. This led to some rethinking of the role of Russia in the modern world. In Washington, they began to see Moscow as not only a competitor, but also an adversary. The United States switched to imitation-force methods, pressure and restraint, saying that Russia is resisting and damaging American security, ”Bruter added.

Broad sanctions policy

On the eve it also became known that the United States also decided to impose sanctions against a number of citizens and companies from Russia, Iran, Turkey and China in accordance with the law on non-proliferation.

"The United States imposes sanctions on 13 foreign organizations and individuals in China, Iraq, Russia and Turkey in accordance with the law on non-proliferation in Iran, North Korea and Syria (INKSNA)," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

  • US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
  • © Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Which Russian companies are subject to restrictive measures is not indicated. It is known that five organizations and individuals from China and Turkey were included in the list for "supporting the Iranian missile program."

“The absolute cynicism of these measures is not so much that Washington again extends its internal laws to foreigners, but, as you know, in this case it“ punishes ”the state, which itself unilaterally withdrew from the most important deal on the Iranian nuclear program. That is, there is a gradual, but more and more striking transition from international to national law, ”said Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council.

In turn, an associate professor at the Department of American Studies, St. Petersburg State University, Grigory Yarygin, in an interview with RT, stated that recently the introduction of sanctions has become “normal practice” for the USA.

“The US Treasury feels free to use the sanction tool and does not feel any political or other restrictions, is not afraid of the reverse actions that Russia, in particular, can take ... At the same time, Moscow may have tools that allow it to act in response for such sanctions, ”the political scientist said.

According to him, at present, the US sanctions policy is "as wide as the US Treasury now sees it."

“This is a continuation of the sanctions policy, which, while the president is busy with domestic policy issues, re-election ... will be applied very intensively. This tool can be used very actively, ”Yarygin believes.