Washington: USA is under no illusion that Russia will take steps to avoid sanctions
The USA firmly disbelieves that Russia will accept Washington’s conditions or take actions to avoid the second round of sanctions arising from the Skripal incident, stated the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Andrea Thompson, as published on the Senate’s website.
Thompson recalled that the first phase of sanctions against Russia was imposed as part of the Chemical Weapons Convention. She said, “The United States has made it clear that we will cease pursuing its development if Russia returns to compliance with the Treaty. We are under no illusion, however, that Russia will take the steps necessary to rescind these sanctions.”
Thompson also mentioned that “Independent reports issued twice by the OPCW, most recently on September 4, confirmed the UK assessment in identifying the chemical nerve agent, Novichok.” She added that, "Regarding chemical weapons issues, Russia’s destabilizing behavior is also evident.”
Thompson also criticized Russia’s refusal to accept responsibility for its actions or to change its harmful and destructive behavior. To date, the Russian Federation has offered only denials and counter-accusations that Thompson says only serve to deflect attention from its culpability.
On August 27, US sanctions against the Russian Federation came into force in connection with the use of chemical weapons in the UK. Sanctions were imposed after Russian was accused of using the nerve agent Novichok in the UK.
The US plans to introduce the second package of sanctions in November. The new ban may affect lending to Russian legal entities, as well as the export and import of certain goods.
In addition, the US plans to impose new sanctions against Russia before the coming elections in November. The new restrictive measures may target Russian national banks as well as Russian government debt.