Donald Trump slaps fresh sanctions on 24 Russians in new assault on Vladimir Putin’s henchmen over Moscow’s global ‘malign activity’
The US government is punishing seven Russian oligarchs and 17 Russian government officials for Russia's 'malign activity' around the world
DONALD Trump has slapped fresh sanctions on 24 Russians in a renewed assault on Vladimir Putin’s henchmen.
The US government today announced it was punishing seven Russian oligarchs and 17 Russian government officials for Russia's "malign activity" around the world.
The Treasury Department said 12 companies owned by the oligarchs were also being targeted, along with a state-owned arms-dealing company and a subsidiary bank.
The group's assets are being frozen and US nationals have been prohibited from doing business with them.
Anonymous senior Trump administration officials said the sanctions are not in response to any one activity.
They say it's about punishing Moscow for its behaviour – including actions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, cyber-hacking and attempts to subvert Western democracy.
Reports also suggest the sanctions have been imposed as punishment on Putin's inner circle for interference in the 2016 US election.
The penalties come as the administration tries to show President Donald Trump isn't too soft on the Kremlin.
The sanctions are designed to penalise some of the Russia's richest industrialists, who are seen by the west as riding on Putin's increasingly authoritarian administration.
Among those sanctioned are Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch who once had close ties to Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort.
Also sanctioned were Suleiman Kerimov — a financier close to Mr. Putin; Vladimir Bogdanov, a top executive of Surgutneftegaz, a Russian oil company; Igor Rotenberg, another oil executive; Kirill Shamalov, an energy executive who married Putin’s daughter, Katerina Tikhonova; Andrei Skoch, a deputy of the Russian Federation’s State Duma; and Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of the Renova Group, a Russian investment firm.
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The sanctions come just three days after Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster issued a dark warning about Russia's growing menace in his departing speech as Trump's national security adviser.
He said: “For too long some nations have looked the other way in the face of these threats.
“And we have failed to impose sufficient costs.”
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