US imposes sanctions on Russia’s FSB for ‘wrongful detention’ of US nationals – Officials

Washington: The United States is imposing sanctions on Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) for its alleged role in the wrongful detention of US nationals abroad, Biden administration officials said on Thursday.
“We will be announcing sanctions today against Russia’s Federal Security Service, often known as the FSB, for being responsible for or complicit in, directly or indirectly engaged in, or responsible for ordering, controlling or otherwise directing the wrongful detention of US national abroad. The FSB has repeatedly been involved in the arrest, investigation, and detention of US Nationals wrongfully detained in Russia,” the officials said during a press briefing.
The officials said work on a new sanctions package was “well underway” before the Russian authorities detained Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich last month on charges of espionage.
Later in the day, the US Department of the Treasury announced that it has added FSB to its list of designated entities under the executive order from July 2022 on efforts to bring US nationals in “wrongfully detained” status home.
Previously, FSB was present on four sanctions lists that were introduced by a host of executive orders and regulations, including those related to non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber sanctions, countering America’s adversaries through sanctions act, and blocking property with respect to specified harmful foreign activities of the government of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, the Department of the Treasury issued a new perpetual general license authorizing certain transactions with FSB that are necessary for the importation, distribution, or use of information technology products in the Russian Federation that do not exceed $5,000 in any calendar year.
UNI/SPUTNIK