RUSSIA/STEVE MNUCHIN/TREASURY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers that the Trump administration plans to levy new Russia sanctions based on a list of oligarchs and senior government officials published late Monday [1-29-18].
Mr. Mnuchin’s comments on Tuesday come as some lawmakers criticized the administration for failing to issue new sanctions under a law President Donald Trump signed last summer, charging he didn’t go far enough to punish Moscow… An outcry greeted two administration moves to comply with the law on Monday. First, administration officials told Congress that the release of a list of Russian defense companies last year was enough of a deterrent against weapons deals that new sanctions were unnecessary.
Second, later Monday evening, the administration released a list of 114 Russian political figures and 96 oligarchs, defined in the report as individuals with an estimated net worth of $1 billion or more. No sanctions were announced against any of the individuals… A senior administration official said there was no deadline or statutory requirement to enact new sanctions on Monday.
Mr. Mnuchin rejected the idea the administration is slow-walking Russia sanctions, saying new punitive actions would be in the coming months, possibly even a month… The Treasury Department said the report doesn’t constitute a sanctions list and that inclusion on the list doesn’t immediately confer sanctions. However, the report is likely to complicate financial and business relationships for those listed.”
-Ian Talley, Felicia Schwartz, and Natalie Andrews, “U.S. Plans New Russia Sanctions Based on List of Elites,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 30, 2018 03:02pm