Tag: economic sanctions
That Rude, Crude Trump Is Ever So Polite — To Putin, His Paragon

That Rude, Crude Trump Is Ever So Polite — To Putin, His Paragon

If Vladimir Putin gave a damn about American public opinion, he’d encourage Donald Trump to make at least a symbolic gesture to prove he’s not the Russian strongman’s vassal. So far, there’s no sign either party to their oddly one-sided alliance feels the need.

Trump’s every significant appointment and foreign policy pronouncement has been exactly as the Russians would have it. “The man has very strong control over his country,” Trump has said. “He’s been a leader far more than our president has been a leader.” So what if Putin’s leadership skills include having political rivals and troublesome journalists jailed or killed?

For all of his crudity, Trump can be excruciatingly polite.  

More telling are Trump’s cabinet picks: first, national security advisor Lt. General Mike Flynn, a flaky conspiracy-theorist who not only gave credence to the delusional “Pizzagate” tale, but has dined publicly with Putin and done paid gigs on the Kremlin-sponsored Russia Today TV network.

Then there’s Rex Tillerson, the ExxonMobil CEO who has done billions in business deals with state-dominated Russian oil companies and accepted that country’s highest civilian medal from Putin himself.

The Guardian has revealed that “Tillerson was the long-time director of a US-Russian oil firm based in the tax haven of the Bahamas”—perfectly legal but unusual behavior in a man nominated as Secretary of State. Imagine the caterwauling if Secretary of State Clinton had done something similar.

Also, did you know that Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign director forced to resign last summer after reportedly taking millions from the Russian puppet government in Ukraine, actually lives in Trump Tower? Did he ever really quit stage-managing the campaign? It’s worth wondering if, like the omnipresent Trump children, he remains on the president-elect’s private payroll.

Add the skeptical noises that Trump has made about NATO, his seeming indifference to Russian military interventions in Ukraine and its role in the ongoing Syrian slaughter, and it becomes hard to imagine anything Putin might want that Trump’s unwilling to give him. It’s a good bet President Trump will withdraw U.S. support for NATO economic sanctions imposed after Russia’s seizure of Crimea—a blow to our European allies and a boost to the faltering Russian economy.

What Trump gets out of his “bromance” with Putin is also perfectly clear. His campaign’s response to the Washington Post’ s revelation that CIA and FBI analysts have concluded that Kremlin operatives meddled in the 2016 presidential election on his behalf was a classic of the Trump method.

“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” the Trump campaign responded. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.’”

Almost every significant syllable was a barefaced prevarication. Without rehearsing the history of Vice-president Cheney’s 2003 bullying of CIA analysts during the run up to the Iraq war (which Trump has also lied about opposing), his election win was one of the least decisive in U.S. history. Besides losing the popular vote by 2.86 million, he won fewer electoral votes than Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, and many others.

And what exactly do Trump voters think they’re getting out of the Russian connection? Most simply don’t care. They’ve basically chosen party over country. They dislike Americans who vote Democratic far more than the Russian dictator, a distant figure of seemingly no significance to their lives. Most are too busy gloating and rationalizing Trump’s boasts to worry about the Kremlin’s arm lock on the White House.

But how much money does the House of Trump owe to Russian banks? If the president-elect gets his way, we’ll surely never know.

Writing in the New York Review, expatriate Russian journalist Masha Gessen analyzes the two men’s deep similarities. “Lying is the message” she explains. “It’s not just that both Putin and Trump lie, it is that they lie in the same way and for the same purpose: blatantly, to assert power over truth itself.”

She examines Putin’s brazen 2014 denial of Russian troops in Ukraine. His lies, Gessen argues “communicated a single message: Putin’s power lies in being able to say what he wants, when he wants, regardless of the facts. He is president of his country and king of reality.”

Similarly, millions watched Trump and Clinton bicker about Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential debates. “You’re the puppet,” he pouted, like a third grader. Now he insists nobody mentioned the subject until Hillary lost.

Trump too, Gessen emphasizes, “was demonstrating his ability to say whatever he wanted about the election, precisely because he had won it.”

No doubt. But Americans aren’t Russians, with their long history of serfdom and dictatorship. Nor can Trump have his opponents bumped off or imprisoned. As partisan passions cool, skepticism will re-awaken.

And then we’ll see what happens.

IMAGE: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Business Russia Congress in Moscow, October 18, 2016. REUTERS/Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool

United States Hits Russia’s Largest Bank, Energy Sector With Sanctions

United States Hits Russia’s Largest Bank, Energy Sector With Sanctions

By Paul Handley

Washington (AFP) — The United States hit Russia’s top bank and leading energy and technology companies with sanctions Friday, restricting access to finance and technology to punish Moscow’s support for Ukraine’s separatist rebels.

In its latest round of sanctions, Washington slapped tight controls on business dealings with for Sberbank, pipeline giant Transneft, and energy firms Lukoil, Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, and Surgutneftgas.

Also listed was state defense technology group Rostec, and five other state owned companies in the defense sector.

The White House actions followed similar moves by Europe aimed at punishing the Russian economy over the country’s interference in neighboring Ukraine.

“Given Russia’s direct military intervention and blatant efforts to destabilize Ukraine, we have deepened our sanctions against Russia today, in concert with our European allies,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.

“These steps underscore the continued resolve of the international community against Russia’s aggression.”

The U.S. sanctions ban American entities from offering anything but short-term financing to Sberbank, Rostec, and two of the energy companies listed, a move that could restrict their business activities and long-term planning.

For Sberbank and Rostec, the limit is 30 days maturity for any new debt issued by the companies. For Gazprom Neft and Transneft, it is 90 days.

For Lukoil, Gazprom, and Surgutneftgas, U.S. companies are blocked from providing any support, materials, or technology for oil and gas exploration projects involving the Arctic region, offshore anywhere, or shale-based resources.

The sanctions also freeze any U.S.-based assets of the five defense sector companies.

The latest effort to ratchet up pressure on Moscow also tightened earlier sanctions on Russian businesses. The previous 90-day financing limit for Bank of Moscow, VTB Bank, and the Russian Agricultural Bank was reduced to a 30-day maximum.

And the support for exploration activities for the energy companies named Friday was extended to oil giant Rosneft, also listed under a previous round of sanctions.

“Russia’s economic and diplomatic isolation will continue to grow as long as its actions do not live up to its words,” said Lew.

“Russia’s economy is already paying a heavy price for its unlawful behavior. Growth has fallen to near zero, inflation is well above target, and Russian financial markets continue to deteriorate.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin quickly lashed out at the U.S. and European effort, saying it would not make Russia change tack, and arguing that Ukraine is being used by the West to destabilize international relations.

“We have been convinced a long time ago that the implementation of sanctions as a foreign policy instrument has little effect and practically never delivers the intended results,” Putin said in Tajikistan, according to Russian news agencies.

“I’ve had a sneaking thought that Ukraine itself does not interest anyone but is being used as an instrument to destabilize international relations.”

AFP Photo/Dimitar Dilkoff

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U.S. Says Looking At ‘Broad Range’ Of Russia Sanctions

U.S. Says Looking At ‘Broad Range’ Of Russia Sanctions

Washington (AFP) – Washington is looking at a “broad range of options” for sanctions it could impose on Russia unless it defuses tensions in Ukraine, a senior U.S. official said Monday.

“This is a step we are very prepared to move forward on,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, warning that the U.S. administration is already examining sanctions on Russian individuals and institutions.

“I would say that the steps that we are taking are having an impact,” she said, pointing as an example to an announcement from the G8, which symbolically called itself the G7, that it would skip preparatory meetings this week for a summit in Russia in June.

“If you look at the sharp decline of the Russian ruble, if you look at the Russian stock market today, those are just two examples,” she said.

Psaki said there was no time-frame as yet for when the United States could impose sanctions, but added “we’re looking at a broad range of options, whether that’s individuals, whether that’s institutions, whether that’s officials, those are all under consideration.”

Washington was working “in lockstep” with its European allies on the question of imposing sanctions on Moscow, as Russia appeared to tighten its grip on Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula.

“We work closely with them as we look to take steps, whether that’s sanctions, whether that’s economic assistance, whether that’s efforts to support the IMF, whether that’s efforts to hold others accountable,” Psaki told reporters on a phone conference call.

“We will keep them informed of what we’re considering,” she said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that sanctions could be considered to try to rein in Russia’s military intervention in Crimea.

And he further warned that Russia could be stripped of its membership of the prestigious Group of Eight most industrialized nations, saying its actions were incompatible with G8 principles.

AFP Photo/Alexey Kravtsov

Obama Warns French Firms On Iran Sanctions

Obama Warns French Firms On Iran Sanctions

Washington (AFP) – President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that America would take tough action against firms violating sanctions against Iran, after a French commercial mission raised hackles in Washington.

France and the United States work closely together to maintain pressure on Iran to drop its alleged nuclear weapons program and, if anything, Paris has adopted the tougher diplomatic stance.

But last month a French commercial delegation visited Tehran to study investment opportunities, threatening to this united front before French President Francois Hollande’s state visit to Washington.

On Tuesday, the two leaders appeared alongside each other at the White House to field questions from reporters and to insist on the strength of their coordinated approach to the Iranian stand-off.

Obama had tough words for anyone hoping the now looser embargo — Tehran’s reward for signing an interim deal to allow tighter controls on its nuclear program — would leave an open door.

“Businesses may be exploring: ‘Are there some possibilities to get in sooner rather than later if and when there is an actual agreement to be had?’,” Obama said, standing alongside Hollande. “But I can tell you that they do so at their own peril right now. Because we will come down on them like a ton of bricks.”

Hollande said he does not control French corporations but made it clear that sanctions on Iran would not be dismantled until a final deal on Iran’s nuclear program had been reached.

“So companies just make their decisions when it comes to traveling, but I certainly let them know that sanctions were in force and would remain in force,” Hollande said.

“Sanctions will only be lifted if and when there is definite agreement,” Hollande said, insisting that Iran must have “renounced the nuclear weapon, fully and comprehensively.”

The 116-strong French delegation, with representatives from major companies like Total, Lafarge and Peugeot, was the largest of its kind from Europe since November’s landmark nuclear deal.

Under that agreement, Iran gained limited relief from crippling U.S. and EU sanctions, but must halt some of its nuclear fuel enrichment and allow the UN nuclear watchdog access to its plants.

The sanctions have had a devastating effect on the Iranian economy, but it remains a major oil exporter and a huge consumer market with a relatively skilled workforce and huge commercial potential.

Many French firms have longstanding commercial arrangements with Iran despite political tensions and Paris’ steadfast opposition to its nuclear drive, which the Islamic regime insists is peaceful.

Obama has welcomed the interim nuclear deal as a victory for his muscular diplomacy, but he faces domestic pressure not to move too quickly on the easing of sanctions.

Some U.S. lawmakers are even pushing for stronger measures, despite warnings from the White House that this could scupper the negotiations and lead to a military confrontation with Iran.

Israel, a U.S. ally and itself an undeclared nuclear power, has not ruled out strikes to derail a program it sees as an attempt to acquire atomic weapons and tip the balance of power in the Middle East.

“We don’t want new sanctions, because the ones we have in place are already squeezing Iran and brought them to the table,” Obama told the news conference.

“But we also want to send a message to the Iranians … that the sanctions regime not only will stay in place, but will likely be tightened in the event these talks fail,” he said.

Hollande is on the second day of a state visit to Washington, during which France has been hailed as one of America’s closest allies.

AFP Photo/Jewel Samad