The U.S. has released a sweeping list of oligarchs close to the Kremlin, which may foretell who may be targeted if the Trump administration levies new sanctions for alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Washington insists that those on the list are not subject to new sanctions yet, but it has still sparked outrage from Moscow and the Russian elite.
Ro Aram reports.
The list, released by the U.S. Treasury Department this week, names 114 senior Russian politicians close to President Vladimir Putin.
It also includes 96 oligarchs each with a net worth of one billion U.S. dollars, who fear it could make them informally blacklisted in the global financial system.
They include the heads of two of Russia's biggest banks, metals magnates and the boss of the state gas monopoly.
The Trump administration insists it will not immediately punish anybody under the new sanctions, at least for now, although the list is part of a sanctions law aimed at punishing Moscow for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The lack of immediate sanctions has angered Democrats, who claim Trump is again being too soft on Putin.
However, in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration viewed the report as an initial step to sanctions.
"And now we will take the basis of that report and look at, kind of, as we do in the normal course where it's appropriate to put sanctions…..So this in no way should be interpreted as 'we're not putting sanctions on any of the people in that report."
Putin reacted angrily to the list, calling it an unfriendly act that punished all Russians.
But he added that Russia will hold back on retaliation for now as he does not want to escalate the situation.
Meanwhile, some Moscow officials played down the significance of the report,...
.... saying it was merely a copy of last year's Forbes list of Russia's wealthiest people, but in alphabetical order.
Ro Aram, Arirang News.
