The United States will announce sanctions against the Russian Federation in response to alleged electoral interference and computer hacking, something that has already generated a Kremlin reaction that called the decision “illegal.” Relations between the two countries, already tense, were recently worsened by a series of events, including the concentration of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, where Moscow-backed separatists and the Ukrainian Army have been fighting a conflict since the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014.In the face of this situation, US President Joe Biden He proposed Tuesday to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, a meeting in a third country but the Kremlin has already warned that possible US sanctions could prevent that meeting.
Joe Biden, President of the United States | Reuters
Sanctions will affect more than 30 Russian entities and include the expulsion of more than 10 Russian citizens from the United States, including diplomats. The executive order will also extend the existing ban on U.S. banks trading on Russian government debt. In this line, the White House is about to formally accuse Russian intelligence of hacking into the computer company SolarWinds, affecting more than 100 U.S. companies and 18,000 government and private computer networks. Russia denied that it had carried out the attack and “condemns any sanctions plan and considers them illegal.” Together with the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the European Union Washington will also sanction eight people and entities for the situation in Crimea.
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation | Reuters
In their telephone conversation, Biden and Putin had proposed “continuing the dialogue” after the US president last month described the Russian representative as a “murderer” who would “pay a price” for the alleged meddling in the election. U.S. intelligence says Putin and other senior officials “were aware of and likely leading” a Russian operation to influence the vote in the 2020 election in favor of Republican Donald Trump.
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