Russia's interference in the events in Ukraine since 2014 and the annexation of Moscow by Crimea have become a catalyst for a sharp deterioration in US-Russian relations and Washington's introduction of numerous sanctions against the Russian Federation. In the future, the situation was aggravated by Moscow's active support of the Assad regime in Syria, the worsening situation with respect for human rights and civil liberties in Russia, attacks by alleged Russian hackers and possible Kremlin interference in the presidential election of 2016 in the United States, mutual accusations of violating arms control treaties. As a reaction to the real and anticipated actions of Moscow, Washington is increasingly using the sanctions tool.

2014: The first sanctions of the Obama administration The first package of US sanctions was introduced by US President Barack Obama in March 2014 against citizens of Russia and Ukraine "involved in the Russian invasion of the Crimea and undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state. "Sanctions included visa bans for such individuals and the freezing of their banking assets. The list was constantly expanding, and on March 20, sanctions were imposed against the bank "Russia", called "the personal bank of high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation".

March 28, the US ceased licensing exports to Russia of defense goods and services. On April 3, consultations with Russia in the field of missile defense, as well as cooperation in the space sector (with the exception of the International Space Station Project) and on a number of projects in the field of peaceful nuclear energy.

On May 7, Washington excluded Russia from the trade program that allows countries in transition to duty-free export certain types of goods to the US.

The second sanction package refers to June 2014, when the first sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy were introduced. Rosneft, Novatek, state-owned Vnesheconombank and Gazprombank, the main corporations of the Russian military-industrial complex. Then the sanctions list was added by the Bank of Moscow, VTB, Rosselkhozbank and United Shipbuilding Corporation.

On August 6, the US authorities banned the supply of equipment to Russia for deep oil and gas production in the Arctic, and then imposed sanctions against major Russian oil and gas producers. American firms are now not allowed to supply them with the goods and technologies needed to develop oil fields in the deep waters and the Arctic shelf and credit them for more than 90 days. US sanctions have affected more than 90 percent of the Russian oil sector and almost all of Russia's gas production.

On December 19, the US president introduced new sanctions in connection with the Crimea, banning the export to the peninsula of any American goods, services or technologies and the importation of products from the Crimea to the territory of the United States. The Minister of Finance was granted the right to impose sanctions on individuals and companies operating in the Crimea.

2015-2016: Banks, MIC, GRU and FSB In the two following years, the US significantly expanded the existing sanctions lists, adding to them, among others, subsidiaries of companies already subject to restrictions.

In June 2015, Washington imposed penalties on any foreign banks that carry out financial transactions with Russian legal entities and individuals listed in the sanctions lists. Since that moment, foreign banks-violators may be prohibited from opening correspondent accounts in the United States, and existing correspondent accounts may be subject to stringent restrictions.

In 2016, under the sanctions for the first time were 11 Russian electronics manufacturers, which can be used for the needs of the military industry, including the leaders of the Russian market, "Angstrem" and "Micron".

In December 2016, the United States for the first time imposed sanctions against Russia, the reason for which was not Ukraine, but possible cyber attacks from Russian hackers during the American election campaign. This time in the black list were the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and the Federal Security Service.

2017: against the "Nord Stream-2" In 2017, the motive for sanctions was not only Russia's actions towards Ukraine, but also Russia's possible intervention in the presidential elections in the United States, the fight against corrupt officials within the "Magnitsky law" and the interests of national security USA. Some of the proposed sanctions were not so much political as they were aimed at promoting US economic interests.

On July 25, the House of Representatives of the US Congress adopted a new package of sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, having formalized it as the law "Countering America's opponents through sanctions". It provides, in particular, a reduction of up to 14 days of the maximum period for market financing of Russian banks that are subject to sanctions, and oil and gas companies - up to 30 days. According to the document, Washington will continue to oppose the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, as it "has a harmful effect on the energy security of the European Union, the development of the gas market in Central and Eastern Europe and the reforms in Ukraine in the energy sector".

On August 2, US President Donald Trump signed a law on tightening sanctions against Russia. The list of companies and organizations consists of two parts. The first mentioned 33 enterprises of the defense sector, including Rostek, Izhmash, Almaz-Antey, Uralvagonzavod and Kalashnikov,. The second part of the list includes six intelligence organizations and structures: FSB, GRU, SVR, Zorsecurity, "Special Technology Center" from St. Petersburg, "Professional Association of Informatics Designers" from Moscow.

On December 19, the US Department of Commerce included in the sanctions list two Russian defense enterprises: the Novator OKB and the Titan-Barricade FNPC. Washington considered that the activities of these companies are contrary to the interests of the national security or foreign policy of the United States.

December 20-21, the US Treasury expanded the sanctions list under the so-called "Magnitsky law", on the basis of which Washington imposes penal measures on corrupt officials and human rights violators all over the world. The list includes, in particular, Ramzan Kadyrov and the son of Russia's Prosecutor General Artem Chaika.

2018: The "Kremlin list" and the blow to private companies 2018 is characterized not only by the expansion of the list of individuals and organizations that are under sanctions, but also by the toughening of sanctions themselves.

In January, the US Ministry of Finance published the so-called "Kremlin list", which includes 210 names. It included, in particular, all Russian businessmen with a fortune in excess of $ 1 billion, as well as 114 officials. Then the US administration announced a decision not to take restrictive measures against the list participants.

On March 15, the US Treasury Department submitted an expanded sanctions list, which included 19 Russians and five organizations accused by Washington of interfering in the presidential election of 2016.

On March 27, Trump extended the sanctions imposed for cyber attacks against the United States by one year. Confirmed restrictive measures against the FSB and the GRU. In addition, the sanctions were extended to the Special Technology Center LLC, the Professional Association of Data Processing Designers associated with these special services, and Zorsecurity. Then they came under the scientific research institute "Quant" and the company Digital Security and "Divevtehnoservis".

April 6, the US imposed sanctions against 24 Russian businessmen and officials included in the "Kremlin list". Among those who came under sanctions were the most influential Russian businessmen who are part of Vladimir Putin's circle: Alexey Miller, Igor Rotenberg, Oleg Deripaska, Suleiman Kerimov, Viktor Vekselberg.

Restrictive measures are also imposed on 14 companies and a group of high-ranking officials: Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, head of Rosgvardia Viktor Zolotov, head of Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov and Governor of the Tula region Alexei Dumina.

The fundamental novelty of this package of penalty measures is that for the first time Washington decided to beat for the defeat of private companies. US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin explained that sanctions are not related to specific offenses, but were introduced in response to "harmful activities of Russia". It is a question of punishing Moscow for all its recent deeds, including the annexation of the Crimea, support for the Syrian regime and attempts to undermine Western democracy.

On May 9, the US announced the imposition of sanctions against a number of Russian military structures in connection with the violation of US legislation on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery - ballistic and cruise missiles. It is a question of cooperation in this sphere with Iran, North Korea and Syria. The day before, sanctions were extended against Rosoboronexport, which is under various US restrictions since 2015.

Source: DW.