The US sanctions imposed today on Russian businessmen and high-ranking officials are a step in the right direction, but it does not pose a serious threat to the immediate environment of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian political scientist Andrei Piontkovsky said in a commentary to GORDON. "I would call the new US sanctions a small step. A serious step was being prepared for January 29, but after the mysterious visit of the leaders of the three Russian special services, hundreds of pages of financial information about money laundering by the Putin elite were moved to the closed part of the "Kremlin report". It was, I hope, the last service that Trump (US President Donald Trump. - "GORDON") had Putin. The sanctions imposed by the US today demonstrate their attitude towards Putin, but the question is how painful they are. In America, $ 1 trillion of private Russian assets. When they start to freeze, it will be serious.. And today's sanctions - so, warm-up. Yes, this is a step in the right direction, but it seems to me that Trump still manages to slow down and mitigate the blow to Putin's environment. Contrary to the unanimous opinion of the majority of the American political class, "Piontkovsky stressed.. In his opinion, the figurants of the sanctions list will face visa restrictions. "There is no need to talk about the seizure of assets - for this there is American legislation. That is, some lawsuits are needed. They can both go this route, so do not go. Most likely, the new sanctions will mean visa restrictions for people who are on the list. While everything is very conditional. A real blow to the Putin regime will be the freezing and confiscation of funds, "said Piontkovsky. US sanctions were introduced against 24 Russian businessmen and high-ranking officials, as well as a number of companies "owned by Russian oligarchs".