New Russia Sanctions Send the Right Message
The U.S. should do more to deter Russian meddling, but it’s no longer denying the threat.
Biden has no illusions about Putin.
Photographer: Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images
The Biden administration’s new sanctions on Russia matter more for what they say than for their economic impact. They say that this president, unlike his predecessor, has no illusions about the challenge Russia poses — nor about the kind of strategy that will be required to confront it.
The new measures call out Russian interference in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections and the massive hack of SolarWinds Corp., which left thousands of computer systems exposed to Russian espionage. They target 32 entities and individuals, including previously sanctioned tycoon Yevgeny Prigozhin, and six Russian companies accused of supporting Moscow’s hacking operations. The U.S. also expelled 10 Russian diplomats and intelligence officers, and barred U.S. financial institutions from the primary market for official ruble-denominated debt.