Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 31 January 2018
Putin calls Russia list ‘hostile’ as Dems decry no sanctions

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV ply copying and pasting works — because the threat gesting more action could focusing mostly on internal
and JOSH LEDERMAN Forbes’ list of Russians worth of sanctions had been come later. Under fire from politics. They are assailing
Associated Press $1 billion or more. enough of a deterrent. The Senate Democrats on the the U.S. president,” Putin
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian Instead, Russia hawks and State Department said that same issue, Treasury Secre- said. He said the Kremlin
President Vladimir Putin de- had pondered possible re-
scribed a list of his country’s taliation while waiting for
officials and tycoons put the list to be announced,
together to comply with but decided to refrain from
a U.S. sanctions law as a action.
hostile and “stupid” move The idea of the seven-page
spearheaded by President unclassified document, as
Donald Trump’s political envisioned by Congress,
foes, but said Tuesday that was to name and shame
the Kremlin would refrain those believed to be ben-
from retaliating for now. efiting from Putin’s tenure,
A continent away, Demo- as the U.S. works to isolate
crats in Washington lodged his government diplomati-
the opposite complaint, cally and economically.
charging that Trump had Russia hawks in Congress
let Putin off the hook. They had pushed the adminis-
chastised the president for tration to include certain
declining to punish anyone names, while Russian busi-
under a part of the sanc- nessmen hired lobbyists to
tions law that was intended keep them off.
to isolate Russia’s defense The list comprises 114 Rus-
and intelligence sectors for sian officials — the whole
Moscow’s alleged med- of Putin’s administration,
dling in the 2016 election. as listed by the Kremlin on
Putin’s reluctance to criti- Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a question during a meeting with his supporters in its website, plus the Russian
Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018.
cize Trump suggested the Associated Press Cabinet, top law enforce-
Russian leader still harbors ment officials and senior
hopes for normalizing ties Trump’s opponents were through demarches to for- tary Steven Mnuchin said executives at state-owned
with the United States. At focused on why his admin- eign countries and other Tuesday that “there will be companies.
the same time, the blanket istration opted not to pun- diplomatic conversations, sanctions that come out of A companion list of 96 “oli-
list of 210 names — a who’s ish anybody — at least for the U.S. had scuttled po- this report.” garchs” is a carbon copy of
who of Russian officialdom now — using new sanctions tential deals worth billions The sanctions targeting Forbes magazine’s Russian
and business elite — could authority that took effect of dollars to the Russians. foreigners buying defense billionaires’ rankings, only
help him win re-election in Monday. Senior State Department products from Moscow are arranged alphabetically.
March by fueling anti-West- “The president of the Unit- officials declined repeat- separate from the list of Rus- It makes no distinction be-
ern sentiment. ed States is not taking ac- edly to provide examples sian politicians and wealthy tween those who owe their
Mixing sarcasm and scorn, tion to defend this nation,” or public evidence of any businesspeople, who do fortunes to close ties with
Putin immediately struck charged Sen. Ben Cardin planned sales that will no not face any U.S. sanctions the Kremlin and those who
that chord Tuesday, say- of Maryland, the top rank- longer go through. But merely for being on that list. don’t. Some of the people
ing that the people the U.S. ing Democrat on the For- some of those examples Yet some observers said the on the list have long fallen
named control companies eign Relations Committee. were conveyed to Con- list could help Putin consoli- out of favor with the Krem-
employing millions of Rus- Alluding to potential future gress in a classified memo date his support base by lin.
sians. The list has spooked election-meddling, Cardin and classified briefings, two burnishing his image of a Officials said more names,
rich Russians, who fear it said that if Putin “sees soft- individuals familiar with the strong leader who stands including those of less-se-
could get them informally ness in the U.S. resolve, he situation said. up to a hostile U.S., nior politicians and busi-
blacklisted in the global fi- will do more.” One said that the adminis- “This is a gift to Putin in the nesspeople worth less than
nancial system. But Putin Both requirements — that tration had given Congress context of the presidential $1 billion, are on a classified
cast the action in Washing- the U.S. issue a list of power- a list of 10 deals the U.S. campaign,” said Andrei version of the list being pro-
ton as a blow to ordinary ful Russians and start using believes will not go forward Kolesnikov of the Carnegie vided to Congress. Draw-
people. sanctions to punish those because the sanctions Moscow Center. ing on U.S. intelligence, the
“All of us, all 146 million, doing “significant” busi- threat had been effective. Putin, whose approval rat- Treasury Department also
have been put on some ness with Russian defense The officials weren’t autho- ings top 80 percent, is set finalized a list of at least
kind of list,” he said at a and intelligence compa- rized to discuss the details to easily win another six- partially state-owned com-
meeting with activists for his nies — were included in a and demanded anonym- year term in the March 18 panies in Russia, but that
election campaign. “Cer- law Congress passed last ity. election that would put him list, too, was classified and
tainly, this is an unfriendly year in response to alleged “He’s ignoring them and on track to become Rus- sent only to Congress.q
move, which further ex- Russian interference in the he’s not implementing sia’s longest-serving leader
acerbates the already U.S. presidential campaign. them, even though they since Josef Stalin. But the
strained Russia-U.S. rela- Trump’s administration had were mandatory,” Senate Kremlin has been worried
tions and hurts international until Monday to take both Democratic Leader Chuck about voter apathy that
relations as a whole.” steps. Schumer said of Trump and could make his showing
Yet in the U.S. capital, the On the sanctions, though, the sanctions. less impressive.
so-called “Putin list” was the administration decided Yet State Department of- Notably, Putin pointedly
greeted with a collective it didn’t need to penalize ficials emphasized that steered clear of criticizing
shrug — mocked by some anyone — including sev- Monday’s deadline was Trump, describing the list as
after it was revealed that eral U.S. allies that have merely the first date the ad- part of U.S. political infight-
the Treasury Department had multibillion-dollar arms ministration could legally ing.
had prepared it by sim- deals with Russia in the use the new sanctions, sug- “Those who are doing it are