US planning further sanctions on Russia

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 02 Aug 2019 by Alex Teddy

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President Trump is formally planning to impose yet more sanctions on Russia. On August 1 Trump signed the relevant executive order - months after Congress sought the imposition of sanctions. The reason for this latest round of sanctions is the poisoning of the Skripals in the United Kingdom in March 2018. No one disputes that Mr Skripal and Miss Skripal were poisoned (non-fatally), but Russia vigorously denies involvement. Trump was authorized to introduce these sanctions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act 1991. He has the right to impose these sanctions because according to the US the Russian State had not provided a credible assurance that it does not use such weapons. The Skripal Case involved a weapons grade nerve agent called Novichok.Under the sanctions, American banks shall be legally prohibited from lending money to Russia's government. The US will also oppose the IMF and World Bank, and other IFIs, lending to Russia. This will cause Russia a major headache. Russia can borrow from other countries, notably China. But the Chinese do not do favors for anyone. Because of US sanctions the Chinese know that they can charge Russia over the odds. There is an exemption in the US sanctions for loans related to purchasing food and other agricultural products. Expect people to exploit this loophole. They will stretch the definition of 'agricultural product'.While the RUB dipped on the nature of the sanctions, this round of sanctions has been long expected - even as Trump seeks to improve relations with Russia. That said, the split in US policy towards Russia is shown further as August 1 the US Senate passed a measure aimed at hurt...