The administration of US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that the US is expelling 10 Russian diplomats, and imposing sanctions against dozens of people and companies, holding the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year’s US presidential election and the hacking of US federal agencies.
The sweeping measures are meant to punish Russia for actions that US officials say cut to the core of US democracy and to deter future acts by imposing economic costs on Moscow, including by targeting its ability to borrow money.
The sanctions are certain to exacerbate tensions with Russia, which promised a response, even as Biden said that he could have taken even more punitive measures, but chose not to in the interests of maintaining stability.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We cannot allow a foreign power to interfere in our democratic process with impunity,” Biden said at the White House.
Sanctions against six Russian companies that support the country’s cyberefforts represent the first retaliatory measures against the Kremlin for the hack known as the SolarWinds breach, with the US explicitly linking the intrusion to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.
Although such intelligence-gathering missions are not uncommon, officials said that they were determined to respond because of the operation’s broad scope and the high cost of the intrusion on private companies.
The US also announced sanctions on 32 individuals and entities accused of attempting to interfere in the election, including by spreading disinformation.
In a declassified report, officials last month accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of authorizing influence operations to help former US president Donald Trump in his unsuccessful bid for re-election, although there is no evidence Russia or anyone else changed votes.
The actions, foreshadowed by Washington for weeks, signal a harder line against Putin, whom Trump was reluctant to criticize even as his administration pursued sanctions against Moscow.
The sanctions are Washington’s second major foreign policy move in two days, following the announcement of US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan.
Until now, Biden has largely focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and economic policies in his first months in office.
It is unclear whether the actions will result in changed behavior, especially since past measures by the US — both Trump and former US president Barack Obama expelled individual diplomats — have failed to bring an end to Russian hacking.
However, experts said that Biden’s order, even while not guaranteed to curb cyberattacks, might have more resonance because of its financial effects: The order makes it more difficult for Russia to borrow money by barring US banks from buying Russian bonds directly from the Russian central bank, Russian National Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance.
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