'The measure, which received overwhelming support in Congress calls on the Treasury and State Departments, along with intelligence officials, to analyze the “potential effects of expanding sanctions...to include sovereign debt and the full range of derivative products.”
“This would be a significant escalation of economic pressure on Russia and would be a significant statement about the toughness of U.S. sanctions on Russia,” Harrell told RFE/RL.'<blockquote>'Buried in the bill’s dry legislative language, however, is arguably something more important: a road map, and a signal, for what might follow if Moscow doesn’t change its behavior more toward Washington's liking.
“I think you could call this a threat,” said Peter Harrell, who worked on Russia and Iran sanctions while at the State Department between 2012 and 2014.
One section focuses on Russian sovereign debt, which the Kremlin has used to stabilize strategically important companies since sanctions were first imposed by the United States and European Union in 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
The measure, which received overwhelming support in Congress calls on the Treasury and State Departments, along with intelligence officials, to analyze the “potential effects of expanding sanctions...to include sovereign debt and the full range of derivative products.”
“This would be a significant escalation of economic pressure on Russia and would be a significant statement about the toughness of U.S. sanctions on Russia,” Harrell told RFE/RL.
..
Daniel Fried, a veteran diplomat who was the State Department’s sanctions coordinator in 2014, said the law was smartly crafted because it hints at the direction Congress will go in the event of an escalation.
"For example, in response to the Russians giving us an August surprise, as they did in 2008,” he said, pointing to Russia's invasion of Georgia that year.
Fried said the reports mandated by the new legislation will also help the administration and Congress focus on punitive measures that can actually be implemented without causing other problems.'
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In New Russian Sanctions Law, A U.S. Warning Of Things To Come, August 04, 2017</blockquote>
Context<blockquote>
'..the Soviet Union was cut off from Western financial markets and was effectively under permanent sanctions..''..has called on Russia to withdraw its forces and military equipment from Ukraine and to stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine.''..Zero tolerance for Russian intrusions .. Estonia .. policy of publicly naming or prosecuting spies..'</blockquote>