Draft of DASKA published

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 27 Feb 2019 by Alex Teddy

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The US Congress has published a draft bill of the Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act. It was introduced by both Republicans and Democrats. The big names behind it include Lindsey Graham. The bill was drafted on 13 February but until now the text was secret. The text is as one would expect. The objectives include precluding US abjuration of NATO which is something that Trump publicly mulled about a couple of years ago. The other objectives are preventing chemical weapons proliferation and tackling cybercrime. The bill contains some provisions which are additions to CAATSA. Men said to be consigliere of President Putin have been named as the subject of sanctions. These people are on the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN). The Russian cyber sector has been targeted by the draft bill. New issuances of sovereign debt are precluded. Various banks are to be sanctioned because they allegedly played a role in electoral meddling. However, it will now be up to the president to pick which banks to sanction. Indeed he could choose to sanction none at all. Named energy projects are also to be subject to sanctions particularly Russian LNG projects abroad. The ostensible reasons for these sanctions include the Ukraine situation and especially the Kerch Strait Incident last year. There is a fairly high chance that the bill will be passed. However, it could still be watered down. The bill as it currently stands would significantly impact the Russian economy. However, certain interests in the United States will say 'by hurting Russia's economy we hurt our own.' Russian oil companies may well see the weakening of provisions aimed at them. The draft legislati...