Two days ago, the United States imposed sanctions against Russia, which included the Russian Ministry of Defense, the intelligence service and 9 industrial companies in the aviation, weapons and space sectors, in addition to Russian citizens.
This came against the background of what Washington said were parties involved in activities that conflict with US interests with regard to national security and international politics.
The European Union has previously imposed sanctions on Russian citizens, over the case of poisoning opposition Alexei Navalny.
The administration of the outgoing US President Donald Trump has previously imposed several sanctions on Moscow, and the following is a review of the most prominent US and European sanctions.
Trump administration imposed several sanctions on Russia (Anatolia)
US sanctions:
August 2017
President Donald Trump signed a bill imposing new sanctions on Moscow to take effect after Congress supported by a large majority to impose sanctions on the Russian government, due to its interference in the 2016 US presidential elections and its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and others, which was considered a violation of international principles.
August 2018
Washington imposes economic sanctions against Russia over the poisoning of double agent Sergey Skripal in the United Kingdom.
The new sanctions were imposed on two categories, the first targeting exports of sensitive national security goods.
As for the second category, it can be activated selectively after 90 days if Moscow does not provide "reliable guarantees" that it will not use chemical weapons again or if it prevents site inspections, and it is this category that could be more dangerous.
Under the law, that category could include lowering the level of diplomatic relations, stopping flights from the Russian national airline, Aeroflot, to the United States, and cutting almost all exports and imports.
November 2018
The United States has taken punitive measures against Russian and Ukrainian officials to prevent them from dealing with the US market.
The sanctions targeted 3 people and 9 entities, against the background of Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula and human rights violations in Ukrainian regions controlled by Russia.
July 2020
The US State Department imposed sanctions on Ramzan Kadyrov, President of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, for his involvement in gross human rights violations in the Chechen Republic.
December 2020
The US sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department on Russia affected the Russian Ministry of Defense, the intelligence service, 9 industrial companies in the aviation, weapons and space sectors, and Russian citizens.
These sanctions were against the background of what Washington said were parties involved in activities that conflict with US interests with regard to national security and international politics.
Alexei Navalny, a prominent Russian dissident, caused a crisis between Russia and Europe (Reuters)
European sanctions:
Western sanctions were imposed on Russia after the Ukrainian revolution in 2014, when Russia was accused of supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine and deploying its soldiers inside the country, and then the imposition of economic sanctions - by the United States and the European Union - negatively affected the Russian economy in terms of investment and the decline of the currency.
Russia responded by imposing sanctions on a number of countries, including a complete ban on food imports from the European Union, the United States, Norway, Canada and Australia, with sanctions being renewed every 6 months.
October 15
The European Union decided to impose sanctions on 6 people and an entity due to the poisoning of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny with Novichok.
Representatives of the 27 member states of the European Union approved sanctions proposed by France and Germany last week, and for holding Russia responsible for the poisoning.
December 2020
Yesterday, Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the French and Swedish ambassadors and the German deputy ambassador to Moscow due to the European Union’s intention to impose sanctions against Russia, against the backdrop of poisoning the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.
The French News Agency quoted 3 sources as confirming that the European Union foreign ministers agreed at their meeting in Luxembourg on Monday to impose sanctions against Russia due to the poisoning of the opposition Navalny, and that there is a political agreement to start work on finalizing these sanctions on the basis of the proposals submitted by France and Germany.