Biden officials are preparing to announce a series of retaliatory measures against the Russia on Thursday that will include sanctions and the expulsion of several Russian ambassadors in response to allegations of involvement in Moscow's election campaign and a crackdown on crime in various spheres of government last year.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the sentence will increase the barriers that exist in U.S. financial institutions. They trade in Russian government debt by refraining from buying new bonds directly from Russia's largest bank, finance department and their royal fund after June 14th.
Washington is also expected to expel many Russian strategists based in Washington, D.C., and New York, and will be given 30 days to leave the country, CNN reported.
According to the New York Times, Biden officials initially planned to restrict their actions only because of the SolarWinds burglary, and eventually decided to do so in retaliation for other allegations made in Russia, including election disruptions and the imposition of US troops in Afghanistan.
Russia's foreign intelligence service, SVR, will also be formally charged with carrying out a massive hacking operation known as the 'SolarWinds hack' targeting the U.S. government. And corporate networks, says a Journal report.
Retaliation in Russia has taken longer than expected as the White House was reportedly dissatisfied with the Ministry of State's earlier elections and extended sanctions aimed at causing greater economic costs in Moscow.
President Joe Biden spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in which he raised the issue of Moscow's hacking operations, election disruptions and the deployment of Russian troops on the Ukrainian-Crimean border. In a recent phone call shortly after taking office, Biden confronted Putin over allegations of poisoning by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, followed by numerous sanctions.
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Without retaliation, Biden officials have shown a willingness to cooperate with Moscow in favor of the U.S. In his phone call with Putin on Tuesday, Biden extended his invitation to the Russian president to meet in the coming months and deal directly with some of the issues. Russia is yet to accept the invitation and it is unclear whether the new sanctions will affect the decision.
Background
Unlike his predecessor, Biden did not hesitate to call Putin in public and promised that serious action would be taken against Moscow for its various allegations. Biden administration officials had earlier said they would take a series of "visible and invisible" measures against Russia for its actions. While running as a presidential candidate, Biden had expressed outrage at reports of former President Donald Trump's incompetence following a CIA report claiming he had paid bribes to Afghan soldiers for killing American troops. Since taking office, Biden has made public a spy report on Russia's election interference in which Putin has authorized massive attempts to undermine Biden's election campaign and has made secret efforts to influence people close to Trump. The U.S. Along with its European counterparts who have also been deeply concerned about the formation of Russian troops on its border with Ukraine, CIA chief William Burns warned that it was large enough that it could happen. In line with sanctions against Russia, Biden officials are also preparing for the possibility of providing assistance to Ukraine in the event of Russia's invasion, reports the Journal.
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