US places new sanctions on Russia
The US administration has decided to place sanctions on a number of Russian, Iranian, North Korean and Chinese entities, as well as several organizations from Turkey and Saudi Arabia which it considers guilty of violating US legislation on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The US Department of State put the relevant notice in the Federal Register on Wednesday.
Among the newly blacklisted entities were the Training Center of Missile Troops in Gatchina, the 18th Central Scientific Research Institute of the Russian Defense Ministry in Kursk, the Construction Bureau of Instrumentation in Tula, the 183rd Anti-air Missile Guard Regiment, and the Scientific Production concern BARL. Additional sanctions were placed on the Main Directorate of the General Staff of Russia (formerly the GRU).
A total of 28 entities were included in the list. The US government claims that all of them have assisted Iran, Syria or North Korea in some way in the development of cruise and ballistic missiles.
The US government did not specify further what these claims were based on. This is an instance of the US attempting to enforce its internal legislation exterritorially. The sanctions prohibit all US ministries and departments from purchasing products and services from the blacklisted organizations. Blacklisted organizations cannot be sold weapons or military equipment, issued American licenses to purchase goods that fall under export control, or receive assistance from the US.
Many of the named organizations have already been under sanctions from the US Treasury Department for a long time.