U.S. Department of State continues its work to strengthen anti-Russian sanctions

The U.S. Department of State continues its work to strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation, which could affect oligarchs from the entourage of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was stated at the briefing in Washington by the U.S. Department of State's spokesman Stephen Goldstein, - UNIAN reports with reference to the agency's website.

Goldstein was asked whether the Department of State continues to implement sanctions against Russia, which were approved by the Congress, so that they would come into force by the end of January.

"This still applies to the time frame. Our position on this issue has not changed", - Goldstein stressed.

The work on introduction of new sanctions is carried out in accordance with the Act on Counteracting Russian Influence through Sanctions, adopted by the Congress.

As previously reported, in late November 2017, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin stated that in January, the U.S. Department of the Treasury would prepare a new list of Russian businessmen and companies that may be subject to restrictive measures. On December 16, 2017, the head of the Ukrainian MFA expressed the conviction that sanctions against Russian oligarchs from the entourage of Russian President Vladimir Putin would force the Russian Federation to agree to the deployment of a real UN peacekeeping mission in the east of Ukraine.