WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) New US sanctions against Russia over its alleged role in the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia came into force following the official publication in the Federal Register as Moscow's economic and military blocs prepare to respond.
The restrictive measures, which were first announced earlier this month, will terminate US arms sales to Russia as well as the financing of arms sales, and prohibit exports of national security-sensitive goods and technology.
The sanctions will result in a denial of US government credit or other financial assistance to Russia. It will also end all support to Moscow under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, except for any urgent humanitarian aid.
However, the punitive measures will not affect space cooperation in the interests of the United States, "provided that such licenses shall be issued on a case-by-case basis and consistent with export licensing policy for Russia prior to the enactment of these sanctions," according to the documents.
The second wave of sanctions is possible in roughly three months. Experts believe that the second round of sanctions may have a much more significant impact than the initial package. Moscow can avoid the second round my agreeing to chemical weapons inspections, a State Department official told reporters when the sanctions were unveiled.
The Russian government's economic and military blocs are preparing a response to the new US sanctions, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said during an interview on Monday.
"Do you really think we will not cope with one, or even five, new waves of sanctions? Yes, we need to prepare for this, we are preparing. The economic bloc, the military bloc are preparing for this," Ryabkov told Rossiya 1.
Earlier on Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Washington of using a far-fetched pretext of the so-called Skripal affair for introducing new sanctions against Russia.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia will make a decision on the response to a new round of US sanctions based on its own interests.
In a separate statement, the Russian Embassy in Washington slammed the measures as they came into force on Monday, calling the sanctions both illegitimate and one-sided.
"Washington issued another set of illegitimate one-sided sanctions against Russia. It feels like local politicians have an unhealthy craving for demolishing the fundamental basis of bilateral relations, on which rests the global security," the Embassy said.
German Foreign Minister Heiko said on Monday that Europe must respond to the sanctions policy pursued by the United States against Russia, China, Turkey and other important economic partners.
He expressed concern that the measures might negatively impact trade relations Europe has with its strategic partners, including Russia, Turkey, and China.
Moodys Investors Service said in a press release on Monday that the first set of US restrictive measures against Russia under the provisions of the 1991 Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act are unlikely to have a large impact on Russia's economy.
"There has already been a material contraction in trade between Russia and the US over recent years and the Russian government has minimal reliance on external bank financing. As a consequence, the credit impact of the newly imposed sanctions on Russian government funding or the broader Russian economy is likely to be relatively contained unless they were to cause a significant erosion in investor confidence," the release said.
In addition, Moody's pointed out that the potential US sanctions against Russian state-owned banks are unlikely to cause a system-wide banking crisis in the country.
"Russia's low reliance on capital-intensive non-conventional oil production limits the potential fallout from lack of US participation in its oil projects," Moody's said. "Still, the restrictions mean that Russia will be constrained from developing some of its more difficult to reach resources, which would reduce potential oil and gas output prospects over time."
In early August, the United States announced a new round of sanctions against Russia due to its alleged use of chemical weapons in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March.
Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the case, stressing that London has neither provided evidence nor cooperated with Moscow in investigating the incident as required under international law.
