Seraphim Hanisch
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
TASS News Agency reported on Sunday, 12 August that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed the US Department of State’s accusation against Russia regarding the attack on Sergey and Yuliya Skripal in Salisbury, England earlier this year.
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The State Department made the decision to impose new and very painful sanctions against Russia based on this premise.
This new round of sanctions is hitting the Russian economy very hard. The Ruble slid against the dollar from about 63 rubles on Thursday to more than 67.6 rubles as of 1:30pm UTC (Greenwich Summer Time) on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Lavrov had this to say:
“I think that all who know even a little bit about the so-called Skripal case, understand the absurdity of the statement in the official document of the US. Department of State that the US has established it was Russia behind the Salisbury incident.”
TASS went on to outline the circumstances:
On Wednesday, the US Department of State said in a statement that Washington was imposing new sanctions on Moscow over its alleged involvement in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the British city of Salisbury. The first round of sanctions will take effect on August 22, while a second round may be introduced in 90 days in case Russia fails to meet certain conditions, the State Department said. Moscow has on numerous occasions rejected all the allegations about its involvement in the Salisbury incident.
The current round of sanctions goes into effect on 22 August, and is directed as follows, according to Bloomberg.com:
The initial round of these sanctions will limit exports to Russia of U.S. goods and technology considered sensitive on national security grounds, including electronics, lasers and some specialized oil and gas production technologies, according to a State Department official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity Thursday. The official said the action could block hundreds of millions of dollars in exports. Waivers will be allowed for space-flight activities and U.S. foreign assistance.
Under the 1991 law — invoked previously only against North Korea and Syria — a second, far more extensive round of sanctions would follow later unless Russia meets conditions including providing assurances it will no longer use chemical or biological weapons and will allow on-site inspections to verify it has stopped doing so, the official said.
Russia Thursday repeated its denials that it has the weapons or used them and held out little hope for compromise.
The added sanctions could include a downgrading in diplomatic relations, blanket bans on the import of Russian oil and exports of “all other goods and technology” aside from agricultural products, as well as limits on loans from U.S. banks. The U.S. also would have to suspend aviation agreements and oppose any multilateral development bank assistance.
The additional sanctions also could be averted if Trump declared that waiving them would be in the U.S. national interest, a politically risky move in light of criticism that he’s been too soft on Russia on issues including interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
The action by the US State Department is being viewed as an internal political counterattack against US President Donald Trump in response to his overtures to President Vladimir Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July of this year. In that summit, the two leaders had very frank discussions that looked incredibly positive for the prospect of a true thawing out of the troubled relations between the two great world powers.
However, the event appears to have drawn out the elements within the American power establishment which presently comprises most of Congress and almost all of the news media. Even some conservative media outlets joined briefly in condemning Mr. Trump for “selling out” to Vladimir Putin by saying he had no reason to believe Russia would interfere with the American elections.
While Mr. Trump tried to politically backpedal this remark, the die had been cast and now much of this establishment has invested their time and energy into branding Mr. Trump a traitor to the USA. In a similar vein, as reported by Jim Jatras in his piece here, US Senator Rand Paul also made overtures that were warmly received by Russian senators, and now he too, has been marked as a traitor.
In that light, plus even British media acknowledgement that there is no hard evidence whatsoever that ties the Russian Federation to the poisoning of the Skripals or the second couple in Amesbury more recently, it is clear that all deductions have been made on spurious reasoning and no hard facts.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
In the long run, this is good for Russia.
Russia should make sure it gets rid of US products such as anything made by Microsoft, Apple or Google even if there were no restrictions — loads of hidden spyware in there, and it will certainly be used against Russia.
“This new round of sanctions is hitting the Russian economy very hard. The Ruble slid against the dollar from about 63 rubles on Thursday to more than 67.6 rubles ” Correction: only the finances of those Russians who travel abroad, have assets, and enjoy imports will be affected. A well-run continental sized economy like Russia’s will find a new equilibrium. The Russian exports will be cheaper, the imports will be more expensive, the banned imports will be substituted and the economy will be dedollarised. And the Russian Bear will come back even stronger to stalk the Western supremacists, the stuff… Read more »
Another incredibly stupid piece by Seraphim Hanisch. He makes it sound as if Trump is not in control of his own State Department when he hand-picked its director, Pompeo. He makes it sound as if Trump lacks the capability to stop the issuing of new sanctions when of course he can, and Lavrov knows that quite well, even if Hanisch does not. But perhaps Hanisch does know that and is simply feeding you disinformation which would make him a purveyor of unethical fake news. The other alternatve is that he and his handlers at The Duran really want you to… Read more »
“Circumstantial evidence” ???? I read that in the title to confirm I need not read any more of Hanisch’s garbage. There is NO evidence, NONE, ZILCH. Either Hanisch and his tripe goes or I go. It’s bad enough dealing with empire-of-chaos disinformation without having to experience it on The Duran as well.
Asa I listened to Teresa May launch into her Skripal accusations given freely with out any substance. It was all ,must have ,could have been,which is hypothesising .
Do the English have such great faith in their PM that they could not see through that?
Ruble price is the same as it was at the start of the weekend.
“it is clear that all deductions have been made on spurious reasoning and no hard facts”???
Lacking facts there can’t be any deductions.
It simply is malicious slander which is knowingly applied in an economic war against Russia.
Call a spade a spade please.
Why can”t Russia ask the World”s Criminal Court in The Hague to determine if Russia is guilty of what the U.K. accuses them. The U.K. case is a joke. But now we see clearly what the USA and U.K. dreamed up to harass Russia. It won”t work, and, by the way since one person was killed by the U.K fiasco someone in the U.K should be charged with Murder!
Electronics? That will really hurt Russia, which of course produces nothing – we know that because Mr Obama told us, and he never lies. Just think of all those Russian aircraft, missile systems and EW equipment that depend critically on the quality of their electronics. Oh, and that are so much more advanced than the US equivalents. See, for example, https://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/11/13/aegis-fail-in-black-sea-ruskies-burn-down-uss-donald-duck/ And, obviously, Russia wouldn’t be capable of building a decent laser without American help. https://www.rt.com/news/russia-superlaser-thermonuclear-weapon-123/ A ban on US firms exporting computers (for instance) to Russia would just encourage the Russians to buy exactly the same computers a lot… Read more »
Principle of presumption of innocence: – United States Supreme Court, 156 U.S. 432 (1895): “The principle that there is a presumption of innocence in favor of the accused is the undoubted law, axiomatic and elementary, and its enforcement lies at the foundation of the administration of our criminal law.” – United States Supreme Court, 397 U.S. 358 (1970): “The Due Process clause protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime charged.” – The Constitution of Russia, in article 49, states that “Everyone charged with a crime shall be… Read more »
Put simply, it’s like a mafia war between the Sopranos and the Gottis being played out in front of us that basically has nothing to do with us. Neither side winning will be to our benefit. We’re like spectators in a Brooklyn apartment building peeking out from behind our curtains to watch the shootout down on the street below. Only difference is the carnage will be the bodies of our own young men and women and millions of civilians on foreign soil. #Just Walk Away, #Just Say No. Enough already with the damn wars for empire and elites. Make then… Read more »
As shown in this article, the United States is preparing to fight a war on another frontier outside of Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Syria:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2018/08/space-washingtons-rage-for-dominance-at.html
One has to wonder on how many fronts can Washington keep expanding America’s military with the goal of fighting and actually winning a war before it collapses under the weight of its expenditures?