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  • 2017-02-02 (xsd:date)
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  • Did President Trump Ease Sanctions Against Russia's Intelligence Agency As a 'Gift' to Putin? (en)
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  • On 2 February 2017, a public notification of an OFAC general license published by the United States Treasury Department noting that sanctions against the Russian security agency Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti would be tweaked to ease the burden on U.S. tech companies selling goods inside Russia caused some (including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi) to sound the alarm that President Donald Trump had eased sanctions against Russia. Some appeared to assume the move was a sign that favor curried by Russian President Vladimir Putin with the new U.S. president had paid off. Pelosi released a statement that reads: That statement and others similar to it are not based in fact, according to foreign affairs and trade experts. The Treasury authorization reads: While President Trump's friendly overtures toward Putin and reports that Russian hacking had influenced the presidential election had raised fears about foreign intervention in the latter part of 2016, the recent activity by the U.S Treasury Department was only a tweak to allow American companies to continue commerce in Russia unharmed, not a sign of nefarious activity. Doug Jacobson, an attorney with Jacobson Burton Kelley PLLC, a Washington, DC-based law firm that advises companies on international trade law, explained that it is meant to allow American companies to obtain licenses and approvals from FSB to import certain software and IT equipment containing encryption into Russia — but it does not mean they are now allowed to sell directly to the FSB nor does it represent a lifting or easing of sanctions: Ankit Panda, a foreign affairs analyst who edits at The Diplomat, told us the move was a routine update to the sanctions that was planned by Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama, in response to U.S. industry concerns raised after sanctions were put in place in retribution for hacking: The fear generated by the announcement, he said, was a signal-noise problem created by the current political environment, although the Treasury action was something that's quite normal that's getting blown out of proportion given the poor timing/optics of 'sanctions relief' for Russia. He noted that the hysteria was a result of anxiety hanging over from the 2016 election, coupled with recent news of a friendly phone call between presidents Trump and Putin and a spike in military violence between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian government pounced on the opportunity to further misinformation and politicize the routine Treasury move, with Russian government-owned media boasting: As Reuters reported, this is a misrepresentation, and the Treasury action was more on behalf of U.S. business interests than anything else: Sam Cutler, a senior analyst at Horizon Client Access, told us that the misplaced outrage is not helping with sober discussion of a weighty and complicated issue: We have not yet received a response from the U.S. Treasury Department or from Pelosi. (en)
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