MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. The US new sanctions against Russia’s military industrial complex may affect moscow’s cooperation with foreign countries, director of the Valdai Club Fund Dmitry Suslov told TASS.
Threat to military-technical cooperation
"The published list affects future of Russia’s military-technical cooperation with foreign countries, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others, as it contains the leading Russian companies in the industry, like Almaz-Antey, Splav, Rostec, MiG, Sukhoi, Tupolev - the enterprises, which are playing the key role in design of the Russian military equipment," he said. "The problem here is the US sanctions are extra-territorial and the foreign companies, which develop cooperation with the enterprises on the list, may also find themselves under the US sanctions - this, apparently, may shrink the military-technical cooperation with Russia."
According to the expert, the US sanctions are not binding and the US would be implementing them as required politically. "For example, today the US-Turkey relations are getting worse, the Americans are indignant at Turkey’s decision to buy Russian S-400 systems. In this situation, the United States may announce sanctions against Turkey as a buyer from the Russian companies on the new list," he explained.
By having the new sanctions, the US would be able to settle its own economic problems, as Russia is its key competitor on the international arms market, the expert added.
Locking bad relations
Another consequence from this anti-Russian initiative would be locking of the confrontation between Moscow and Washington. "These sanctions against the Russian companies on the list could be exclusively a decision of the Congress, and the Congress is not going to allow it in near future, of course, [therefore] this decision realistically institutes confrontation, institutes the cold war between Russia and the US and offers further reasons to those [people] inside Russia, who say the US continues against us the economic war, and not economic only," he continued.
The expert stressed, Donald Trump’s Administration had to publish the list of Russian companies, which may be sanctioned. "The executive power had to do so - according to the law. Trump’s Administration tried to stretch the time, trying to ease the contents of the new sanction wave, though it has not really succeeded, but in fact they did manage to postpone publishing of this new list," he said. "Now, let’s see how this decision on the sanctions would be implemented; as now it has not come into force yet."
US sanctions
On October 26, the US Department of State announced that it had endorsed a new list of restrictive measures and companies that could be sanctioned. The document has been forwarded to the US Congress. The Department of State did not disclose the list, but The New York Times released it. It includes, in particular, Admiralty Shipyards, Almaz-Antey, Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, Kalashnikov Group, Izhmash, Splav Science and Production Enterprise, Rosoboronexport, Radioelectronic Technologies, RTI, Uralvagonzavod and Rostec. In addition, sanctions may affect partners of Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG, Sukhoi, Russian Helicopters, Sozvezdie, Tactical Missiles Corporation, Tupolev, United Aircraft Corporation and the United Shipbuilding Corporation.
The list includes Russian intelligence services: the Main Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Foreign Intelligence Service, which have been for quite a time under American sanctions, introduced by the then-President Barrack Obama.