As Moscow weathers the latest U.S. sanctions, Washington considers new restrictions on Russian sovereign debt

Russia’s economy and currency are expected to weather the latest U.S. sanctions, but Washington could escalate its pressure on Moscow, if it wishes. On April 5, 2018, lawmakers in the U.S. Congress introduced a bipartisan bill that would impose additional sanctions on Russia for the poisoning of the Skripals in England.

The bill would allow the president to apply the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act to any Russian citizen known to be involved in the alleged assassination attempt. It would also prohibit U.S. citizens from any transactions relating to new Russian sovereign debt (issued 180 days after the bill is enacted).

What’s considered Russian sovereign debt?

The restrictions would apply to bonds and new foreign exchange swap agreements with a maturity of more than 14 days issued by Russia’s Central Bank, the National Welfare Fund, the Russian Federal Treasury, and any agents or affiliates of these institutions.

The sanctions would also extend to “any other financial instrument” (that needs more than two weeks to mature) issued by Sberbank, VTV Bank, Gazprombank, the Bank of Moscow, Rosselkhozbank, Promsvyazbank, or Vnesheconombank.