The U.S. Department of Treasury, as promised, presented last night the so-called "Kremlin Report," which includes over 200 individuals believed to be closely affiliated with the Russian government and, therefore, may fall under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. It's not easy to understand how this report was compiled. But this listing looks as if the phone book of the ministry cabinet and the president administration had been copied with the names of CEOs of all the big Russian businesses being added to the list. President Putin, whose name the American government didn't have the nerve to add to the listing, commented on the document. He suggests a more global approach to tackling this problem.
Igor Ashmanov, vice-agent of Vladimir Putin: "Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury published the so-called Kremlin Report. This is not a sanction list yet, as it doesn't impose any restrictive measures. But this list is unbelievable as the entire Russian government has been claimed to be enemies of the U.S., except for you, as you’re perhaps off-limits".
Vladimir Putin: "It’s a shame, yo!
I didn’t see this document, neither the list nor enclosures to the listing. They say there are some secret enclosures. In the morning my colleagues briefed me, but I didn’t see the listing. What I’d like to say in general in regards not only to this listing but to this whole bundle of issues. More than anything else, we need to think about ourselves. About the country's economy. Agriculture. Export support. Healthcare. Education. And then... ...and the defense potential, of course, its growth, and then they would realize that there is no sense in issuing any listings. There is no reason to threaten, scare, hold off our progress. This is the main thing for us to be doing We should be governed by the well-known rule: the dogs bark, but the caravan goes on. What I’d like to say in regards to this report: it includes all members of the presidential administration, all government members, all businesses… Ordinary citizens of the country stand behind every person and every structure: employees, work groups, and entire industry branches.
So, in fact, all of us, all 146 million people, have been added to some listing. I don’t get the sense of such acts, but this is unquestionably a hostile act. It further complicates relations between Russia and America which are already at a low point. And it hurts international relations on the whole.
See what nonsense they’re doing: they put Russia in one bucket with North Korea and Iran and at the same time ask us to assist in solving the issue of the North Korean nuclear program and to think of what can be done in Iran. Isn't this nonsense?!
Or, we have to think of what to do with the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions. The term of the Treaty expires soon. We have to think whether we should extend it… of what is to be done about this Treaty. It's a question of whether we're going to do it. It's a question of fighting terrorism. You know that we are grateful to Americans, and I went public about it, I called the President, I thanked him personally. for giving us information on the planned terrorist attack in St. Petersburg. We are really grateful. We exchange similar information with their intelligence agencies. Not long ago the director of the Federal Security Service in Washington did this. The Russian intelligence service gives them information. Do they need this at all? Some time ago they thought they could go without it, and they had the Boston Marathon Bombing. People were killed... So do they need it or not? Will we cooperate or not? Do you want it at all? We can do without it. But I believe that everyone is interested. Everyone! Rolling back the relationship between the U.S. and Russia is completely stupid.
We were looking forward to getting this listing and I won't lie, we were ready to take reciprocal measures, serious measures that would bring our relationship to zero. For now, we will abstain from these measures. But we will closely follow the situation as it unfolds in reality".
Now in more detail about Washington's decision. The report consists of two sections – the secret enclosure and the revealed listing. What threat does the report bring to those listed in it, and why does it come out specifically now, with the Russian Presidential Election approaching.
Aleksandr Khristenko reporting from the U.S.
Trump's administration lingered as long as it could with the publication of the so-called Kremlin Report. The U.S. Ministry of Treasure finally published it late last night.
The listing of individuals who are likely to face the restrictive measures is really long – it includes a grand total of 210 names. High-ranking officials and governors occupy over half of the list, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, all members of the cabinet, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, who receives calls from the U.S. officials sometimes several times a day. The listing includes legislative power as well – Speaker of the Federation Council and Chairwoman of the State Duma, CEOs of state corporations, large businesses, and law enforcement agencies. Some of them are already under U.S. sanctions. Like Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin. The listing also features Presidential Council for Civil Society Chairman Mikhail Fedotov and the Children's Ombudsman Anna Kuznetsova.
Moreover, there's some classified part of the report. The ambassador of the Russian Federation in the U.S. Anatoly Antonov commented on the U.S. sanctions policy in an exclusive interview.
Anatoly Antonov: "The sanctions won’t scare us. And it's not a slogan that I'm saying right now, I really do think so, and I'd like to proudly remind you that I'm the only ambassador in the world to be under sanctions. I'm under sanctions of the EU and Canada. So I'd like to ask the question, do the politicians, the people who plan the sanctions against Russia really think that we'll put our tail between our legs and won't support our stance?"
The same U.S. "Kremlin Report" includes major businessmen. Everyone on the list is called solely an “oligarch”. It doesn't matter whether this is an oil company president Vagit Alekperov, a co-founder of Yandex Arkady Volozh, or a creator of the well-known antivirus Evgeny Kaspersky. Everyone, who’s on the list by the will of Washington, is threatened with the sanctions.
The DOS also announced that they'd already delivered a strike at the Russian Defense Industry. They threatened to sanction the countries that purchase Russian weapons.
But the Trump-opposing Democrats are still unsatisfied — they demand more sanctions.
CNN: "The President talks about anything but Russia. Why does he treat Russia so lightly? He talks about many things, and he doesn't treat Russia lightly, that's not true. He doesn't talk about the Russian plane, he's not imposing sanctions, even though the Congress is asking him to, why?"
Previously, the presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who is also on the list, said that the U.S. "Kremlin Report" is an attempt to affect the presidential elections in Russia. However, in his opinion, these actions won’t yield results.
Aleksandr Khristenko, Nikolay Koskin, Vesti, Washington, USA
