According to reports from senior US administration officials, the White House is considering adopting further sanctions against Russia, rejecting allegations of leniency against Moscow.
Congress has already voted sanctions against Russia, accused by the Americans of interfering in the 2016 elections. But on January 30, the Treasury Department preferred only to publish a list of 200 Russian officials, without announcing immediate punitive measures. Speaking on condition of anonymity, senior Trump administration officials said a "working group" has been appointed to prevent further interference in next fall's parliamentary elections.
In addition, work is also underway to introduce sanctions in relation to destabilizing actions of the US electoral system during the 2016 presidential campaign that brought Donald Trump to the White House. A senior Trump administration official said, "We do a lot of work, we take it very seriously, it's a national security issue." Foreign governments have been warned that they will face sanctions if they enter into "meaningful deals" with the Russian military, according to the same American source. This concerns, for example, Turkey, a NATO ally, which has announced the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles. "Some important countries" are reconsidering arms purchases as a result of these US warnings, a US official said.