Russians are Baffled by the United States Treasury's Latest Sanctions List

January 29 was set to be a big day in the world of American sanctions against Russia. Earlier in 2017, United States (U.S.) president Donald Trump signed into law the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” (CAATSA), stipulating a host of new sanctions to be applied at the discretion of the White House within 180 days of passage.

CAATSA also mandated the “Kremlin Report” to single out key figures in Russian president Vladimir Putin’s entourage, along with exposing their financial holdings. Russian elites were reportedly thrown into a panic, lobbying to have their names excluded. Yet Russia’s political elite registered a collective smirk at the seemingly toothless unclassified report released on January 30.

The public version was simply a reprinted list of a Forbes’ list of the richest Russian businessmen. Names on the list of Putin’s presidential administration were clearly copied and pasted from the Kremlin’s English-language website.

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The implementation of sanctions remains a hot-button issue as the Trump administration continues to grapple with accusations of Russian collusion in 2016 U.S. presidential elections. Enforcing sanctions would allow the U.S. to appear ‘tough’ on Russia. CAATSA's deadline to announce new sanctions loomed, but the White House decided to refrain, saying the sanctions already in place were sufficient.