Trump Administration Imposes New Sanctions Against Russia

The Donald Trump administration announced on Thursday, March 15, that it has imposed new sanctions against Russia in connection with the country's interference in the U.S. elections. According to a report by Fox News, these penalties include sanctions against the 'Internet Research Agency,' described as a Russian troll company, which is said to have published divisive political content on social media during the 2016 presidential election in the U.S. Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, a financier of the 'Internet Research Agency' who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has also been included in these sanctions. Prigozhin, known as 'Putin's Chef,' has previously been mentioned in reports by Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the U.S. elections. The report states that the Trump administration has sanctioned a total of five entities and nineteen individuals, including Russians who pretended to be American and spread discord in the lead-up to the U.S. presidential election. The new sanctions were imposed based on the powers of the U.S. President and a legal opinion passed by Congress this summer, although the deadline given to the Trump administration for this matter had expired a month and a half ago. Trump signed this bill in mid-summer but emphasized at the time that the congressional bill would reduce presidential powers and thwart his administration's efforts to improve relations with Moscow. According to this law, the U.S. government was supposed to compile a list of entities and individuals deserving of sanctions by October and implement the sanctions in January. However, the U.S. government failed to meet any of these deadlines, explaining that the Treasury Department was still gathering information and carrying out necessary tasks. This delay had caused some members of Congress to express concern that their passed law might not be implemented, but the Trump administration stated on Thursday that today's sanctions would not mark the end of penalties against Russia, but could continue until Vladimir Putin changes his policies and behavior. In this context, a spokesperson for Putin accused the U.S. of attempting to influence Russian elections. 'The U.S. is considering' imposing new sanctions against Russia. The Kremlin stated that there is no evidence of Russian government interference in the U.S. elections. The former head of Trump's campaign denied the allegations and will face trial. Republicans in the House of Representatives stated that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.