The Trump administration has declined to impose new sanctions against Russia, saying that a bill passed by Congress last year authorizing new sanctions is itself working adequately.
“Given the long time frames generally associated with major defense deals, the results of this effort are only beginning to become apparent. From that perspective, if the law is working, sanctions on specific entities or individuals will not need to be imposed because the legislation is, in fact, serving as a deterrent,” a State Department spokesperson said.
Congress passed a bill last July requiring the imposition of new sanctions against individuals and businesses doing significant business with Russia’s defense and intelligence industries. The deadline for the new sanctions was Monday. The White House informed Congress late yesterday that it would forgo new sanctions.
A clause in the bill allows the administration to decline new sanctions if it notifies Congress that potential targets are “substantially reducing” their business with the related sectors. The administration essentially did that, saying sanctions are unnecessary as the authorization of new sanctions by Congress is already having the desired effect.
Individuals and businesses “have been put on notice, both publicly and privately, including by the highest-level State Department and other U.S. government officials where appropriate, that significant transactions with listed Russian entities will result in sanctions,” the spokesperson added.
In addition to the new sanctions, the July bill also required the administration to put together a list of wealthy Russian oligarchs with close, personal ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as a report on the consequences of sanctioning Russia’s sovereign debt. The deadline for those items was also yesterday. The administration released an unclassified version of the oligarch list late in the day after it was announced they would not be leveling new sanctions. The Treasury Department noted that the list was “not a sanctions list” and that individuals on it do not “meet the criteria for designation under any sanctions program.”
The list contained 114 senior political figures in Russia, as well as ninety-six oligarchs with close ties to Putin. It is unknown whether Congress received Russian sovereign debt report yesterday, as that report is likely to contain classified information. “Further details are contained in a classified report we have submitted to Congress,” the State Department spokesperson said.
The White House signaled on Monday that the sanctions would be implemented in a timely fashion. Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said the Treasury Department was expected take the process “the next step forward.” The next time the administration is required to notify Congress of the status of the sanctions bill is in 180 days, or late July.
The ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ben Cardin of Maryland said that that he expected communication with the administration to continue. “The U.S. should be prepared to impose sanctions when the law is clearly violated,” Cardin said. “The administration should not rest in these efforts and I expect a frequent and regular dialogue on this issue.”
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine expressed confusion at the administration’s reluctance to execute a bill that passed with such overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill was “not partisan in the least,” Collins said.
Sen. Susan Collins says it’s perplexing that the White House has not imposed new sanctions on Russia after 98 of 100 senators voted for the sanctions. https://t.co/3EK74SoSPy pic.twitter.com/oGqx0Okzqi
— CNN (@CNN) January 30, 2018
There were only five no votes in both the House and the Senate when the bill was passed.