US Threatens More Economic Pressure if Russia's Behavior Does Not Change

On Tuesday, US officials reported to Senate committees that the United States is prepared to impose further economic pressure on Russia if its behavior does not change. Concurrently, US lawmakers are calling for more serious actions to counter Russia's 'harmful' activities. According to Reuters, Sigal Mandelker, acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated in a Senate Banking Committee session: 'Although Russia's harmful activities continue, we believe that due to awareness of our ability to impose further economic pressure, its adventurous behavior is somewhat controlled. If Russia's behavior does not change significantly and noticeably, we will not hesitate to apply more economic pressure on that country.' Donald Trump has always claimed to favor better relations with Moscow, but despite a meeting between the two presidents last month, relations have soured due to increased sanctions from Washington. US lawmakers are demanding further actions, including the implementation of another set of sanctions, which one senator described as 'hellish sanctions.' The aim of these measures is to punish Russia for the annexation of Crimea, its involvement in the Syrian civil war, and actions that US security agencies describe as cyberattacks intended to influence US elections. The Russian government has repeatedly denied any attempts to influence US elections, including the 2016 presidential election in which Donald Trump won. Reuters adds that Christopher Ford, an official from the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the State Department, reported to the Senate that many arms contracts between Russia and third countries have been canceled due to concerns about penalties that the US government could impose. Wess Mitchell, a deputy assistant secretary of state, also stated in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee session that due to concerns over US sanctions, Russia has incurred losses of between $8 to $10 billion in arms transactions. He added that since 2013, foreign direct investment in Russia has decreased by 80%, which is an extraordinary figure. Meanwhile, on the same day, the US Treasury Department sanctioned two Russian citizens, one Russian company, and one Slovak company for assisting other Russian companies in evading sanctions related to cyberattacks. The US government also sanctioned two Russian shipping companies and six vessels that it claims participated in violating UN sanctions by transferring petroleum products to North Korean ships.