Washington is concerned about the excessive application of sanctions against Russia.

This was announced at a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 14 by First Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo.

“Yes, senator… The United States alone has imposed a thousand sanctions against Russian entities and individuals,” he answered the question of one of the senators whether he was worried about the “excessive application of sanctions” by the United States.

At the same time, Adeyemo emphasized that the previous experience of Washington in this area was taken into account when developing the current restrictions.

He recalled that in 2021, under his leadership, a report was published, following which a recommendation was made to the White House: when imposing restrictions, act more selectively and take into account possible political and economic consequences.

“I think one of the most important findings of this review is that multilateral sanctions have worked best.

For a variety of reasons: for example, they had a much stronger economic impact, which is what we see today in Russia.

In addition, in this way a greater political effect is achieved and it becomes possible to protect the US economy from having this (burden. -

RT

) fall solely on it, ”said the deputy minister.

He also assured that before the introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation, the US Treasury carried out a serious analysis of what the economic effect of restrictions would be for the United States.

“Based on the review of the sanctions, we are taking some additional steps to ensure that sanctions are used as effectively as possible without being abused,” Adeyemo said.

At the same time, he acknowledged that, despite all the sanctions, Russia's oil revenues, most likely, have grown.

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Reverse effect

Meanwhile, experts note that the White House has not managed to protect itself from the impact of the imposed restrictions.

In particular, according to the US Department of Labor, published on June 10, inflation in the country reached 8.6% in annual terms - this is the highest since December 1981.

Fuel prices have also skyrocketed.

Thus, over the past year, the energy price index increased by 34.6%, and specifically for gasoline - by 48.7%.

The high level of inflation, which will continue in the short term, was also noted by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee on June 7.

The minister also acknowledged that she and US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell were mistaken in their recent assessments of inflation, calling it temporary.

“There is no doubt that we are under the most serious inflationary pressure, and at the moment inflation is our main economic problem, which is a task of paramount importance to address.

Thus, according to my forecasts, inflation will remain high,” she said.

At the same time, she tried to attribute this jump to geopolitical upheavals such as the “Russian war with Ukraine.”

Russia is also considered guilty in the internal affairs of the country by US President Joe Biden.

In a speech in Los Angeles on June 10, he cited the "Putin tax" as the reason for the rise in consumer prices, without specifying exactly what he meant.

“Putin’s price hike is hurting America… I am doing everything possible to stop this rise in prices and lower the prices of gasoline and groceries,” the American leader said.

Meanwhile, the American media, citing their sources, report that inflation may not be the only problem that the US will face in light of anti-Russian sanctions.

Thus, Bloomberg claims that the continuation of the policy of restrictions may lead to losses in the pension funds of the United States.

In particular, one of the largest American funds, PIMCO, allegedly warned the US Treasury about the prospect of such a development of events.

In turn, the director of the Democracy Institute, Patrick Basham, in a commentary to RIA Novosti on June 13, noted that US citizens are less and less enthusiastic about the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation, believing that the American leadership should focus on solving internal problems.

“Today, Americans still support Ukraine and criticize Russia in this conflict, but their support for specific anti-Russian measures has decreased significantly,” the analyst said.

According to him, American society has split over the question of the advisability of continuing the policy of economic sanctions.

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The price of sanctions

Experts interviewed by RT note that the concerns of the US Treasury about the possible excessiveness of anti-Russian sanctions are quite justified.

According to Yury Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, the US Treasury Department initially warned the White House that the abundance of sanctions being imposed could be ineffective and dangerous for the United States itself.

However, the political agenda prevailed over reasonable arguments, the expert noted.

“Today, American politics has become so saturated with anti-Russian ideology that this ideology blinds the eyes.

All new sanctions are proposed either by Congress or by the administration, which have already turned this into a competition, excluding common sense from it.

At the same time, professionals are well aware of what this “competition” threatens the United States itself, but today they prefer not to hear their voices, ”Rogulev explained in a comment to RT.

At the same time, American political scientist Malek Dudakov emphasized in an interview with RT that even politicians can no longer ignore that “the anti-Russian restrictions they lobbied turned out to be double-edged.”

“No one expected that the restrictions imposed against the Russian Federation would be so strongly affected by the restrictions imposed against the Russian Federation, although, most likely, the White House admitted that they could not but affect the country's economy.

However, they continue to impose new sanctions even to their own detriment, since the confrontation with Russia, especially against the backdrop of the Ukrainian crisis, is one of the main goals of the United States, ”the expert said.

The continuation of the sanctions line is fraught with aggravation of the internal political situation in the country, Dudakov believes.

“The imposition of sanctions and the deterioration of the economic situation threatens to defeat the leading US Democratic Party in the upcoming midterm congressional elections.

In turn, this may affect Biden's plans to apply for a new presidential term or turn into a defeat for him if he is still nominated in the elections, ”he added.

Andrey Sidorov, head of the Department of International Organizations and World Political Processes at the Faculty of World Politics of Moscow State University, shares this opinion.

“I think the Democrats already understand that, most likely, they will lose the midterm elections if the current situation inside the country remains unchanged.

If the elections were tomorrow, then the Democratic Party, I think, would lose not even one, but both houses of Congress.

Indeed, in particular, they have a rather precarious position in the Senate, because there is an actual equality of seats, ”the analyst explained in a comment to RT.

He also noted the lack of unanimous support among Democrats for Biden's plans for a second term.

“In addition to this, even ordinary Americans are beginning to recognize the excessive enthusiasm of the Biden administration for Russia, which is called to blame for all the troubles.

The constant manipulation of phrases like "Putin's inflation" no longer inspires universal confidence, which affects the ratings of the current president.

It is impossible to constantly shift responsibility to an external factor when specific decisions are expected from you.

Therefore, Biden and his team will be more and more doubtful as the internal crisis worsens, ”summed up Sidorov.