Translated material
List of disappointment
American experts criticize the published list of 210 “Putin's Friends”, argue about its authenticity and invite Congress to take the topic of sanctions in their hands
US Department of Finance Photo: Flickr / Slashher-Fun
They put it on the laughing stock
The US Treasury published an open part of the Kremlin Report with names of 210 representatives of the Russian elite, which may impose sanctions, late in the evening of January 30. And already the 31st Senior Researcher of the Washington Atlantic Council, the famous economist Andres Oslund , one of the experts who consulted the Ministry of Finance when drawing up a list, published an article on the organization’s website in which he expressed not only doubts about its authenticity, but also in question called its expediency.
Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
“Of course, the goal (report) was to identify those who made a condition on illegal contracts with the Kremlin,” wrote Oslund. - Various departments of the American government were involved in the work. However, at the last minute, someone-it is not yet known who-threw the work done by experts and instead inscribed the names of senior representatives from the administration of the President of the Russian Federation and the government, adding 96 Russian billionaires from the Forbes magazine. ”
According to Oslund, “in this way, representatives of the administration put up the work of government experts who prepared another report to the laughing stock and made the Caatsa law ( “ On countering the opponents of America through sanctions ” - the law was signed by President Trump on August 2, 2017. - NT) ineffective.”
The expert is sure that “if this extract from the Kremlin telephone book had some kind of effect, it was that it united the Russian elite around Putin”
Stephen Mnuchin
Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Oslund actually accused Stephen Mnuchin of incorrect actions of the US Minister of Finance, who, according to him, "having signed this list, took all the responsibility."
The expert is sure that "if this extract from the Kremlin telephone book had some kind of effect, it was that it united the Russian elite around Putin." “Many businessmen from the Forbes list are citizens of other states and have not live in Russia for a long time. And the US administration has no evidence that these people have done something wrong, ”he said.
"Nonal" document
Another specialist who was related to the report and was also disappointed with the final result was the former assistant to US Secretary of State Daniel Frid . According to, for example, the Atlantic portal, some Russian oligarchs even tried to bribe it so that he helped them avoid sanctions, but he refused everyone. However, Fried, who was engaged in the compilation of the sanctions list in the Barack Obama administration and acted as one of the authors of the November article on The Atlantic Council blog “How to determine the Kremlin ruling elite and its agents”, and himself confirmed this fact in one of the January interviews.
Photo: tbilisi.media
Fried, as NT already resembled , also participated in the preparation of a 200-page report in Russia, prepared under the auspices of Senator-Democrat Ben Cardin , he was published in early January 2018: the report maximum abruptly characterizes the activities of Russian authorities and its President Vladimir Putin both in relation to Russian rights and freedoms in Russia itself and elected processes in the USA and in Europe.
Even before the publication of the “Kremlin report”, Fried said that the main task is “the persecution of the bad guys who were part of the official system of power, and do not need a large list to show people in Moscow that in their interests not to be an element of the“ Kremlin circle ”and not conflict with the United States.” “Look what anxiety is in Moscow now. Their anxiety is our capabilities, ”he said a couple of weeks ago.
In the United States, the norm is the preparation of several versions of the same document at once. When a project of nuclear doctrine of the United States published in advance in the media in advance, the Pentagon said that the doctrine has eight versions
Now that the “Kremlin list” has become public, Fried calls it a “frivolous” document that “was published under the guise of serious work” and contains the names of not only “bad”, but also “good”. In his opinion, the person involved in the list treat him not serious.
True, Fried, unlike Oslund, is much less categorical in assessments and does not claim that the substitution took place. However, according to him, "if this happened, then the administration ruined everything."
Versions are normal
However, neither Oslund nor Fried named a single person who, in their opinion, could be included in the report, but in the end it was not there. If both are involved in his preparation, then they circulated in the discussions the name of the representatives of the Russian elite are probably known to them.
On the other hand, in the United States, the absolute norm is the preparation of several versions of the same document at once. For example, when a project published in the media in advance in the media in advance on February 2 of the US nuclear doctrine appeared in advance, the Pentagon instantly said that the doctrine has eight versions (which turned out to be true: in the final text of the doctrine there were 100 pages in the media outlets - about 60). And it cannot be ruled out that Oslund and Frid simply did not know about other options.
The US administration has already assured that no secret lists that were made to the report at the last moment existed.
True, there was also a secret part of the report that the US Congress knows, but not the general public. According to representatives of the American Ministry of Finance, it includes a less high flight birds, in particular, businessmen whose condition is less than $ 1 billion. It cannot be ruled out that they were the very “bad guys” that Oslund spoke of.
Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Some experts, by the way, already demanded to declassify the closed part of the report. But the influential Democrat Senator Ben Cardin cooled his hot heads: “We are not allowed to do this,” he said.
However, the well -known love of the American media for “sources familiar with the situation” can lead to the publication of leaks. But the general public will still have to guess about their accuracy and, in the end, decide whether to believe them or not.
Promotion of sanctions
If you summarize the reaction of the Washington political establishment to the publication of the report, then it can be put in one word - disappointment. In order to rectify the situation, a researcher at the Washington “Center for the New American Security” (CNAS) Eduardo Saravalle invited Congress to take a number of steps. In particular, he recommended developing a comprehensive strategy against Russia, aimed at combating the kleptocracy, as well as protecting the American elections. At the same time, the expert suggested that the legislators, and not the White House "expand the list for better tracking the movement of money and the decomposing the influence of illegally acquired funds."
“There are specific steps that Congress can take to combat the Russian invasion of the United States and other countries. Strengthening ties with European partners will ensure the continued effectiveness of current sanctions. Protection of the American voting system - this will ensure the integrity of the upcoming elections. And the fight against illegally acquired means - it will interfere with Russian influence, ”the expert noted.
In his opinion, "these measures will allow us to advance further and create a new policy against Russia."