U.S. preparing new sanctions against Russia - bill

The act is titled "Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2019."

"The bill [aims] to strengthen the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to combat international cybercrime, and to impose additional sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation, and for other purposes," the document reads.

The authors of the bill propose imposing sanctions against people who support Russia in its harmful cyber activity, as well as against the entourage of Russian President Vladimir Putin - political figures, oligarchs, and other persons that facilitate illicit and corrupt activities.

It is also envisaged to prohibit transactions with the new sovereign debt of the Russian Federation – bonds issued by the Central Bank, the National Wealth Fund, or the Federal Treasury of the Russian Federation, or agents or affiliates of any of those entities, with a maturity of more than 14 days.

In addition, it is proposed to introduce restrictive measures with respect to Russian financial institutions that support the Russian government's interference in democratic processes or elections in any other country.

Senators also propose imposing sanctions related to investments in Russian liquefied natural gas export facilities outside of the Russian Federation. The issue concerns an investment that directly and significantly contributes to Russia's ability to construct liquefied natural gas export facilities outside of the Russian Federation, has a fair market value of $1 million or more, or during a 12-month period, has an aggregate fair market value of $5 million or more.

The report notes that if approved by the Senate, the bill should be submitted to the House of Representatives. Then the document has to be signed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

As reported, on February 13, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a bill to the U.S. Senate to strengthen the economic, political and diplomatic pressure on Russia.

The bill, titled the "Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act" (known as DASKA), was introduced by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Cory Gardner and Democratic Senators Bob Menendez, Ben Cardin and Jeanne Shaheen.

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