Sanctions have been announced against Russia by the United States in reaction to what the US administration claimed were because of cyber-attacks and other hostile actions.
Making the announcement the White House said that the sanctions are targeted at dozens of Russian entities and officials and the aim of the measures is to deter "Russia's harmful foreign activities".
While accusing Russia for interfering into the 2020 Presidential elections in the US, Washington also said that the massive "SolarWinds" hack that had taken place last year had been supported by Russian intelligence, the White House statement said.
While denying all the accusations, Russia has said that it will respond to the sanctions in kind.
An executive order signed by US President Joe Biden details the sanctions which were announced at a time when the relations between the two countries is quite tense.
On the issue of the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, seven Russian officials and more than a dozen government entities were targeted by the US last month.
Russia has said it was not involved in the incident.
While proposing a meeting with the Russian president Vladimir Putin to find areas where the two countries could work together, Biden, in a call with Putin on Tuesday also pledged to defend the national interests of the US.
His decision to impose sanctions on Russia was described as "proportionate" by Biden.
"I was clear with President Putin that we could have gone further, but I chose not to do so," Biden told reporters. "The United States is not looking to kick off a cycle of escalation and conflict with Russia."
The two countries should move forward with respect to bettering the relations between the two countries through "thoughtful dialogue and diplomatic process" he added.
The new sanctions show the US "will impose costs in a strategic and economically impactful manner on Russia" if it continues its "destabilising international action", said the statement from the White House.
The statement also sought to reaffirm the point of view of the US administration that the cyber-attacks were backed by the Russian government and that the government in Kremlin has been trying to "undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections" in the US and its allied nations.
Specifically, Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR, has been blamed by the US administration for the widespread cyber attacks on SolarWinds – which was series of hacking events that gave access to 18,000 government and private computer networks to the hackers.
He believed Russia was behind it, the then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said last December.
32 entities and officials who have been accused of trying to influence the 2020 US presidential election "and other acts of disinformation" have been also targeted in the latest US sanctions.
The US is also set to expel ten diplomats. Starting June this year, US financial institutions have been barred from purchasing rouble-denominated bonds under the latest sanctions implemented through the executive order.
(Source:www.cnn.com)
Making the announcement the White House said that the sanctions are targeted at dozens of Russian entities and officials and the aim of the measures is to deter "Russia's harmful foreign activities".
While accusing Russia for interfering into the 2020 Presidential elections in the US, Washington also said that the massive "SolarWinds" hack that had taken place last year had been supported by Russian intelligence, the White House statement said.
While denying all the accusations, Russia has said that it will respond to the sanctions in kind.
An executive order signed by US President Joe Biden details the sanctions which were announced at a time when the relations between the two countries is quite tense.
On the issue of the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, seven Russian officials and more than a dozen government entities were targeted by the US last month.
Russia has said it was not involved in the incident.
While proposing a meeting with the Russian president Vladimir Putin to find areas where the two countries could work together, Biden, in a call with Putin on Tuesday also pledged to defend the national interests of the US.
His decision to impose sanctions on Russia was described as "proportionate" by Biden.
"I was clear with President Putin that we could have gone further, but I chose not to do so," Biden told reporters. "The United States is not looking to kick off a cycle of escalation and conflict with Russia."
The two countries should move forward with respect to bettering the relations between the two countries through "thoughtful dialogue and diplomatic process" he added.
The new sanctions show the US "will impose costs in a strategic and economically impactful manner on Russia" if it continues its "destabilising international action", said the statement from the White House.
The statement also sought to reaffirm the point of view of the US administration that the cyber-attacks were backed by the Russian government and that the government in Kremlin has been trying to "undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections" in the US and its allied nations.
Specifically, Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR, has been blamed by the US administration for the widespread cyber attacks on SolarWinds – which was series of hacking events that gave access to 18,000 government and private computer networks to the hackers.
He believed Russia was behind it, the then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said last December.
32 entities and officials who have been accused of trying to influence the 2020 US presidential election "and other acts of disinformation" have been also targeted in the latest US sanctions.
The US is also set to expel ten diplomats. Starting June this year, US financial institutions have been barred from purchasing rouble-denominated bonds under the latest sanctions implemented through the executive order.
(Source:www.cnn.com)
