Russian senator says that US Treasury's 'Kremlin List' means breakdown of ties with Moscow

RT
Tue, 30 Jan 2018 08:05 UTC

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Kremlin

The inclusion of virtually the entire Russian leadership in the US Treasury's 'Kremlin List' signals a de-facto breakdown of relations between the US and Russia, a top Russian Senator says.

"Formally our countries have relations, but including in the sanctions list almost all our country's leadership means that those relations automatically break down," First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov said.

He also called it "gross interference" in Russia's internal affairs.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said earlier on Tuesday that the US Treasury's 'Kremlin List' resembles a Who's Who of Russian politics.

Dvorkovich said he was not surprised to find his name on the list.

"As a member of the government, I was obliged to be on this list, the entire government is there, so there is nothing surprising. It is a list of individuals who are obviously the leading ones in Russian politics and business. This is not a sanctions list; it's a list which is used for further decisions and assessments. We will continue to monitor the situation. There are no grounds for any action yet," he told journalists in Novosibirsk.

The US Treasury's 'Kremlin List' infringes on the principles of relations between the countries, making cooperation with Russia in different spheres practically impossible, Frants Klintsevich, the deputy head of a Russian upper house committee, said.

Comment: The entire Russian government is included in the US Treasury's 'Kremlin List,' which also features scores of influential businessmen. Moscow slammed the report, saying it virtually amounts to a breakdown of ties.

The first part lists a total of 114 Russian political figures, including Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, head of the Presidential Administration Anton Vaino, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, as well as all Russian ministers, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other senior officials.

The list also includes top Russian businessmen Alisher Usmanov, Sergey Ivanov and Roman Abramovich.

According to the report, people featured in the list were selected on the basis of "individuals' official position in the case of senior political figures, or a net worth of $1 billion or more for oligarchs."

The document is part of a sanctions law signed by Trump in August, which targeted Russia in retaliation for alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election - a claim which still lacks any evidence.
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The report adds that it "does not create any other restrictions, prohibitions or limitations on dealing with such persons by either U.S. or foreign persons."

The report also has a "classified annex" that could include other people with a net worth below $1 billion, according to the US Treasury's document.