The United States has pledged to impose long-delayed sanctions in retaliation for Russia’s alleged election meddling within a month.
The U.S. Treasury ratcheted up the pressure on Russia’s political and economic elite in January by publishing a list of 210 individuals tied to the Kremlin that could be the target of future sanctions. Despite the publication of the list, President Donald Trump was criticized for having failed to impose new sanctions on Moscow six months after Congress passed legislation that mandated the move.
“You can expect sanctions will be coming in the next 30 days,” a Bloomberg News reporter cited U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin as saying at a UCLA speech Monday.
“We are enforcing all the existing sanctions and putting more on place,” Mnuchin was cited as saying.
The secretary has long pledged to act on the sanctions bill signed into law in August 2017.
The State Department assessed that the threat of new sanctions has already cost the Russian arms industry more than $3 billion, a claim Moscow has denied.
