The U.S. will announce new sanctions against Russia as soon as Thursday for allegedly interfering in U.S. elections and launching malicious cyber activity, sources said, including multiple individuals and entities, according to several media reports including The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
The sanctions are expected to blacklist 30 entities, and the U.S. government will also order the expulsion of about 10 Russian officials from the United States, a person familiar with the matter said.
The White House, State Department and Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment at this time.
The round of sanctions may be a response to last December’s cyberattack. The U.S. government said the cyber intrusion concerning SolarWinds software was likely orchestrated by Russia. The hackers gained access to the systems of thousands of companies and government departments that use SolarWinds products through the sabotage.
Microsoft President Brad Smith described the attack as “the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen.
The U.S. also plans to punish Moscow for trying to interfere in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. In a report released last month, U.S. intelligence agencies said Russian President Vladimir Putin likely gave instructions to try to influence the 2020 presidential election with the aim of helping former President Donald Trump.
U.S. President Joe Biden said last month that he believes Putin is a “murderer. U.S.-Russian relations immediately fell to a new post-Cold War low. New sanctions are expected that could further increase tensions between the two countries
In a call on Tuesday, Biden told Putin that the United States would act “firmly” to defend its interests, U.S. government officials said.
Biden also proposed meeting with Putin “in a third country” so the two leaders could find areas of cooperation.
In the past few weeks, the U.S. and its NATO allies have been alarmed by Russia’s massive troop buildup near Ukraine and in Crimea. Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with reporters last week, “The hostility and unpredictability of U.S. actions in general forces us to prepare for the worst-case scenario.”
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