Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Totally ineffective sanctions against Russian nobodies now a part of Obama's legendarily lame foreign policy

04/29/2014

Sanctions more of an inconvenience than a punishment..

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government on Monday announced a new round of “selective” sanctions targeting Russian individuals and entities, as well as restrictions on certain exports to Russia, in response to the role that Moscow continues to play in the Ukrainian crisis.

The sanctions affect several individuals, “including two members” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, as well as 17 companies linked to him, along with other measures, White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

The two members of Putin’s inner circle are Igor Sechin, the president of state-run petroleum firm Rosneft and Putin’s close advisor on energy issues, and Sergei Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec, the state manufacturing and export program for high-tech products, a top U.S. official told reporters while requesting anonymity.

Among the Russians who have had travel restrictions imposed on them and had their assets involved in U.S. activities frozen, are Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak; the head of the Foreign Relations Committee in Russia’s lower house of Parliament, or Duma, Alexei Pushkov; and Russia’s special envoy to the recently-annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea, Oleg E. Belavantsev.

Regarding the companies having sanctions imposed upon them, all are linked with three individuals who are “very close” to Putin and who were already sanctioned by Washington on March 20 – Gennady Timchenko and brothers Boris and Arkady Rotenberg – according to the official.

The announcement, which was made while President Barack Obama is on a tour of several Asian countries, said that the sanctions were put in place in response to the fact that Russia has not fulfilled its international commitments to alleviate the crisis in Ukraine.

The crisis in Ukraine was triggered by the ouster in late February of President Viktor Yanukovych, a Kremlin ally.

Russia sent troops to the strategic region of Crimea following Yanukovych’s removal from office.

Moscow subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula last month – a move the West considers illegitimate – after its mostly Russian-speaking population voted in a referendum to break off from Ukraine and rejoin Russia.

Moscow contends Yanukovych was removed from office on Feb. 22 by far-right Ukrainian nationalists and that it moved to protect ethnic Russians and Russian interests in Crimea following that development.


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