Page 14 - RusRPTApr21

The ‘pay with a glance’ option is currently only available to shoppers who are Sber’s banking clients. The biometric data is stored at Sber and transmitted via highly secure channels in an encrypted form. No other companies working on this project have access to the biometric data.
2.5 Biden: Putin is a killer
The ruble sold off heavily on March 17 after US president Joe Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a killer in an interview.
ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he thought Putin is “a killer.” Biden murmured agreement and said “I do,” without elaborating.
The interview follows the release of an intelligence report on Russia commissioned by Biden shortly after taking office that concluded Russia attempted to interfere in the recent elections, but did not use hackers or technology to try and skew the results. The interference was limited to trying to confuse the debate with misinformation and messaging on social media.
Biden went on to say that Putin will “pay a price” for his meddling. In a “long talk” with the Russian leader last month, Biden said he told him, “I know you and you know me. If I establish this occurred, then be prepared,” Bloomberg reported.
The intelligence community report concluded that Russia ran an media campaign favouring former President Donald Trump similar to a campaign favouring Trump in the 2016 elections.
The comments sparked speculation that new sanctions on Russia could be announced very soon. Previously it was reported that the White House would issue a statement on sanctions pertaining to Russia’s alleged use of the chemical weapon Novichok in June.
The Biden administration has already issued one set of very limited sanctions connected to the use of Novichok against jailed anti-corruption activist and opposition politician Alexei Navalny that saw nine officials directly involved in the prosecution and jailing of Navalny sanctioned under the terms of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW).
By enacting the CBW as the basis of the sanctions that automatically triggers new deadlines and further actions beginning three months later according to US law. As part of his process the US also announced on March 17 that it was expanding restrictions on exports of chemical weapons to Russia, which is mandatory once the CBW has been enacted. But this ban is purely symbolic as the US has exported almost no weapons to Russia since the end of the Lend-Lease arrangements in 1945.
However, the US could introduce more sanctions against Russia earlier than June and separately from the CBW mechanism for alleged meddling in its 2020 elections, CNN reported on March 17 citing unnamed sources that did not detail possible sanction targets. CNN reported that “people close to Putin”
14 RUSSIA Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com