The Trump administration on Tuesday announced new sanctions against Russia, accusing Russian ships based in Vladivostok of violating U.N. sanctions by delivering oil to North Korea and blacklisting two companies for trying to circumvent previous U.S. sanctions over cyberattacks, escalating the U.S. economic clash with Moscow.
The moves, which provoked a sharp response from Moscow, came as administration officials outlined in a trio of Senate hearings a strategy to rein in recent aggressive Kremlin behavior on a variety of fronts. But lawmakers from both parties expressed skepticism that President Trump has done enough to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin.
British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt, visiting Washington on Tuesday, praised President Trump for what he said were increasingly strong Russian sanctions, in particular in response to the nerve-gas poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England earlier this year that Britain says was ordered by the Kremlin.
Speaking at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Mr. Hunt called on Europe to match the White House’s efforts, adding that Russia’s “aggressive and malign behavior undermines the international order that keeps us safe. Of course we must engage with Moscow, but we must also be blunt. Russia’s foreign policy under President Putin has made the world a more dangerous place.”
Separately, Microsoft said it had uncovered new Russian hacking efforts targeting U.S. political groups before November’s midterm elections. The Associated Press reported that the software giant claimed a group tied to the Russian government created fake websites that appeared to spoof two American conservative organizations: the Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute. Three other fake sites were designed to look as if they belonged to the U.S. Senate.
The response from Moscow was quick and dismissive. Noting Mr. Hunt’s comments, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov derisively noted that “our British colleagues have pretty high self-esteem” given that Britain was negotiating its departure from the European Union via Brexit but still trying to set diplomatic policy for the continent.
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Mr. Lavrov told reporters in Sochi that Britain “is trying to dictate foreign policy to the EU, and now it turns out that London wants to dictate foreign policy with regard to Russia to Washington as well.”
On Capitol Hill, the Russia question dominated separate hearings of the Senate Banking Committee, Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee.
Appearing before the banking panel, acting Deputy Treasury Secretary Sigal Mandelker said the administration plans to impose “more economic pain” on Russia through a host of sanctions and other penalties if the Kremlin does not “significantly change” its aggressive activity around the globe.
A driving force behind Treasury Department sanctions, Ms. Mandelker said that U.S. officials since 2013 have frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in Russian-owned assets in America, adding, “Russia is taking note.”
Addressing the foreign relations panel, Marshall Billingslea, the Treasury Department’s top terrorist financing official, said threats from Russia remain significant but would be “even further off the charts” if the U.S. was not imposing sanctions.
Wess Mitchell, the State Department’s top diplomat to Europe, added that such penalties have cost Russia’s economy tens of billions of dollars and recently cost Russia $8 billion to $10 billion in foreign arms deals.
As the relationship between the former Cold War adversaries has grown strained, the Obama and Trump administrations have turned to sanctions to target Russian policies ranging from the annexation of Crimea, involvement in the Syrian civil war and meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election — which Moscow has denied.
President Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to improve ties with Moscow. But since the start of his administration, new sanctions have been imposed on more than 200 Russian-related individuals and entities, including many of the Mr. Putin’s favored oligarchs.
Still, key lawmakers from both parties complained that the Trump White House has not done enough to penalize Russia.
“It’s not often that Congress acts together in such a strong manner,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, Idaho Republican. “But, then, Russia is a menace on so many different levels today that Congress can be compelled to act with a single voice to find solutions that will protect America and democratic values across the world.”
Sen. Bob Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, told administration officials that “Congress is going to act; you might as well know that.”
“I’d rather it act in a way that has your insights about what would be helpful, but if you fail to provide insights then we will provide you with a law that ultimately take place without your insights,” he said.
⦁ S.A. Miller contributed to this report, which was based in part on wire service reports.
• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.
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