DEFENSE/RUSSIA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration announced Monday [1-29-18] that it had decided against imposing any sanctions on countries that buy Russian military equipment, saying that a new law was already deterring billions of dollars in such purchases.
The law required that sanctions be imposed against large purchasers of Russian arms, but it granted exceptions for a variety of reasons. The administration explained the exceptions it was citing to members of Congress in a classified briefing on Monday… Defense deals are often years in the making, so last year’s law, called the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, is only just beginning to have an effect, an administration official said.
Congress overwhelmingly passed the law in response to intelligence that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in the United States. But the legislation presented the Trump administration, which opposed its passage, with a conundrum because crucial American allies and partners, such as India, Turkey and some Eastern European members of NATO, continue to buy military equipment from Russia.
The administration’s rejection of sanctions on Monday disappointed critics, who worried about continued Russian influence.
Peter Harrell, a former sanctions official in the Obama administration, said that it was ‘clearly disappointing’ that the Trump administration refused to impose sanctions ‘on the same day that C.I.A. Director Mike Pompeo said that Russia will target the 2018 midterm elections.’ “
-Gardiner Harris, “Trump Administration Won’t Impose Sanctions on Buyers of Russian Arms,” The New York Times online, Jan. 29, 2018