U.S. imposes "clumsy" sanctions instead of "sanctions from hell"

Russia's Foreign Ministry commented on the United States' move to expand sanctions on Russia.

The ministry noted that accusations concerning oil supplies to Syria look like a statement of support for terrorists and also show a desire to prevent the reconstruction of Syria. 

"At the same time, the main reasons for sanctions are rooted in the domestic political struggle in the United States, where each of the parties seeks to score points by whatever means, particularly by taking steps at the international level. As a result, these steps turn out to be clumsy," the statement reads.

"Accusations concerning oil supplies to Syria - a country whose armed forces have been fighting terrorist aggression for over seven years - look like a statement of support for terrorists and also show a desire to prevent the reconstruction of the war-torn country, where many people live without electricity and heating. Is it what the United States really wants?" the Russian ministry asked.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Washington has been demonstrating its inability to make our country change its independent stance at the international stage. "U.S. politicians should start getting rid of illusions about the United States’ omnipotence that they convinced themselves of. Self-deception is a dangerous thing," the ministry concluded.

The director of the Center for Political Information, Alexei Mukhin, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the meaning of these U.S. sanctions was to just impose them, to politically declare an increased U.S. pressure on Russia.

"The U.S. lost in Syria, and now they are trying to compensate for their losses by various drastic actions. In fact, they are trying to resort to an attitude of intimidation, and the essence of sanctions does not play a big role here. Sanctions are imposed for the sake of sanctions. At the same time, they address issues, in which a number of people in Washington involved in the imposition of these sanctions are interested. And after it we should expect new waves of restrictive measures," he said.

The senior research fellow at the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, agreed that having a reason to impose new sanctions on Russia is no longer necessary condition for the U.S. "These two companies were chosen only because they are registered in Russia and are engaged in the supply of oil from Iran to other countries. That is, it turns out that the sanctions were imposed against Russia, but their action is multi-faceted - a simultaneous blow on Iran and Syria, as well as expressing their displeasure with Russian activity in the Middle East. Their only purpose is to divert attention from the need for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis," he said.

"The current American administration is trying to make economic sanctions the main instrument of their relations with other countries. They immediately resort to this instrument in cases when they do not have diplomatic or political argumentation. Russia was chosen as a sanctions target as a main regulator in Syria. The Americans have their own plans for the future of the Middle East, due to which they will look for ways to create difficulties for Russia, Syria and Iran," Vladimir Olenchenko concluded.

On November 20, the U.S. sanctioned two Russian companies - Global Vision Group and Promsyrioimport - on suspicion of supplying Iranian oil to Syria. Promsyrioimport Director General Andrei Dogayev was blacklisted.