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On September 26th, the US Treasury Department announced more sanctions on Russia.
Treasury targets sanctions evasion scheme facilitating jet fuel shipments to Russian military forces in Syria https://t.co/SxrUqCKD1i
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) September 26, 2019
“Treasury is targeting a sanctions evasion scheme that includes front companies, vessels and conspirators who have been facilitating the illicit transfer of jet fuel to the Russian military in Syria. Assad’s despotic regime is under an international spotlight for using chemical weapons and committing atrocities against innocent Syrian civilians, and they rely on these types of illicit networks to stay in power,” said Sigal Mandelker, Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “The U.S. is determined to cut off access to the international financial system from those who conspire to violate our sanctions, including those who enable the brutal war machine in Syria.”
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Maritime Assistance LLC, which is a front company supporting the U.S-designated company OJSC Sovfracht (“Sovfracht”), originally designated for operating in Ukraine.
It was done in coordination with the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office.
“The FBI is proud to have been a part of the team that unraveled this complicated scheme that supplied fuel for Russian jet fighters supporting Assad’s regime,” said Alan E. Kohler, Jr, Special Agent in Charge of the Counterintelligence Division, FBI Washington Field Office. “The FBI will continue to work closely with our Department of Justice and Treasury partners to identify and bring to justice those individuals or entities that conspire to violate U.S. sanctions, and in turn, imperil our financial system and our national security.”
The above-mentioned company Sovfracht has been designated since 2016.
On September 26th, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Damascus of carrying out a “chlorine attack” in northern Lattakia in May 2019.
“The Assad regime is responsible for innumerable atrocities some of which rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Pompeo said, according to CNBC. “Today I am announcing that the United States has concluded that the Assad regime used chlorine as a chemical weapon on May 19.”
The timing of the sanctions and the accusations is interesting, since it comes when there is a massive storm brewing regarding US President Donald Trump’s conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In addition, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the US of abusing its position as host of the UN headquarters to deny visas to members of delegations of those it sees as adversaries such as Russia or Iran.
It is necessary at this time to remind the international community, as well as the internal political scene in the US of who exactly is “the true enemy.”
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