When then-Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent told the Senate that he would support ratcheting up sanctions pressure on Russia, I had hope that this administration would do what the Biden administration could not or would not: hit Russia hard in the energy sector - no waivers, no general licenses, nothing.
Needless to say, those hopes have been dashed, and as I sit here writing this, there’s no ceasefire, the Black Sea “ceasefire” has produced not even a tiny reduction in violence, Russia continues to attack energy infrastructure in Ukraine, and has been murdering civilians, including little children, with Shahed drones and Kinzhal missiles.
In a missile attack on Kryvyi Rih last night Russia murdered NINE children on a neighborhood playground along with several adults. Nineteen dead so far in Zelensky’s hometown.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed full responsibility on Telegram, claiming these were “military targets.” They called the murdered children "military personnel of foreign countries"
This is little Tymofiy. This tiny innocent is who the Russians claim is a military target. Notice the number of positive responses to the Telegram post.
This is just the latest in Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians, which have been increasing during the past two months. Russian forces have been pounding the city of Kharkiv particularly hard, murdering and injuring civilians, including a 9-month old baby.
Another attack on Kharkiv a few days ago targeted a military hospital - a war crime.
The UN monitoring mission reports that although casualty numbers have fluctuated over recent months, 2025 is so far a deadlier year than 2024.
So what US doing? (With apologies to the NAFO fellas on social media)
Among all this murder and destruction, the United States invited a sanctioned “negotiator” to visit Washington. Kirill Dmitriev—the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund—was designated by the US Treasury shortly after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kirill Aleksandrovich Dmitriev (Dmitriev) is a close ally of Putin and the CEO of RDIF and JSC RDIF. Dmitriev is an alumnus of American universities and has links to American consulting and financial services firms. He has leveraged his ties to universities and organizations in the United States to serve as a representative for the Russian president to American institutions, thereby providing access to key economic opportunities in the United States.
Among the Russian elite, Dmitriev is a close associate of Putin and he and his wife are also believed to be close to one of Putin’s daughters, Katerina Tikhonova, and her former husband, billionaire Kirill Shamalov. Shamalov was designated in April 2018 pursuant to E.O. 13662 for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy.
OFAC designated Dmitriev pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of the GoR. Dmitriev was also sanctioned by Canada on February 24, 2022.
Dmitriev, an alumnus of US universities, has links to American consulting and financial services firms, which he has exploited to facilitate Putin and pals’ access to US institutions and to key economic opportunities in the United States.
The designation under EO 14024 also carries with it a secondary sanctions risk, and any individual or entity designated under this executive order is considered part of Russia’s military-industrial base, as Russia has fully pivoted to a wartime economy. Any foreign financial institution transacting with Dmitriev risks secondary sanctions being for dealing with the Russian military-industrial sector.
The Treasury Department had to issue a seven-day sanctions waiver for Dmitriev to come to the White House and chat with Steve Witkoff, who recently parroted Kremlin talking points on Tucker Carlson’s program. Ukrainians’ reactions to Witkoff’s ignorance were incredulous. THIS is what the Trump administration has sent over to Russia to “negotiate” with Putin?
Dmitriev was more than happy to be allowed to visit the United States and likely spout more Russian demands to US officials. He bragged about it on X yesterday.
In addition to a waiver for a designated Putin ally, the administration recently did something else that shocked me. The Treasury a couple of days ago removed Karina Rotenberg—the wife of sanctioned Russian oligarch Boris Rotenberg—from the sanctions list without offering any explanation.
Just like that, a major doorway for Boris Rotenberg to the United States has been opened, extending friendly, open arms for him to befoul the US financial system through his wife.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Project (OCCRP) reported on Karina’s US citizenship, which made receiving funds from her husband—a childhood friend of Putin’s—difficult, since financial institutions aren’t fans of allowing a US citizen to send and receive funds from a designated individual, even if said individual was a spouse.
Why? Because the use of spouses and close associates is a well-known, common sanctions evasion methodology, according to regulators.
The UK’s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) also noted the frequent use of family members by sanctioned individuals to circumvent sanctions and provided several examples.
Keeping it in the family: To avoid detection, enablers often register companies, assets and trusts in the names of relatives or trusted proxies of their clients, as well as using relatives or associates as directors. Investigative reporting has revealed this to be a common typology, with examples including: Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov’s sister, a gynaecologist, listed as the beneficial owner of 27 Swiss bank accounts; Boris Rotenberg's bodyguard and Arkady Rotenberg’s girlfriend holding valuable assets; and Alexander Mashenski restructuring ownership of his Belarusian fishing business to benefit his daughter, two months after the invasion of Ukraine. Another high-profile proxy that was exposed through investigative journalism is Eric Whyte, a Canadian and Cypriot citizen, who appears to have no business activities outside the network of offshore companies he allegedly controls – offshore companies connected to assets worth approximately $130 million. OCCRP reporting suggests that the beneficial owner of Whyte’s empire is actually Andrei Kostin, a sanctioned Russian banker with strong ties to Putin.
So why was Karina all of a sudden quietly delisted? There was no press release or formal announcement. Had I not received a notification about a change on the SDN list, I wouldn’t have known.
I can’t say I know why she was suddently removed. I can speculate, but I try not to on this site.
I will say that my hopes of the United States getting tough with Russia are dashed.
What about the tariffs?
I haven’t mentioned the tariffs imposed on both adversaries and allies this past week that decimated stock portfolios and retirement accounts around the country and caused massive declines in global markets. Many have written about this, so I’m not going to.
I will, however, note that while allies such as the EU, Israel, and the UK were targeted with tariffs, as well as Heard and McDonald Islands, one country was notably missing: Russia.
Treasury Secretary Bessent explained away the omission because ostensibly, the United States doesn’t trade with Russia under heavy sanctions placed on the country after it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
This is simply untrue.
The first thing I did when the claim was made was amble over to the US Trade Representative’s website. Yes, US trade with Russia has significanly declined since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, but it’s definitely not zero, and definitely more significant than the trade we conduct with the mostly barren Antarctic islands populated by fish, volcanoes, and penguins on whom tariffs were imposed this week.
Russia still exports fertilizers, radioactive chemicals, and platinum to the United States. Why no tariffs?
Did the penguins do something to offend the Trump administration? Are the penguins ripping us off?
At least the memes are comedy gold!
Longtime readers of this site know that I’ve been harsh in my criticisms of the Biden administration when it came to holding Russia accountable. I’ve railed against waivers and general licenses that have allowed money to continue to flow into the Kremlin’s coffers, I’ve criticized authorizations of transactions with Russian financial institutions, limits on Ukraine’s military strikes against Russia, and licenses that allow corrupt Putin puppets in other countries to continue profiting. I’ve wondered why no secondary sanctions have been imposed against foreign financial institutions that transact with Russia’s military-industrial base.
But the Biden administration at least imposed some accountability on the Russians and gave lip service to helping Ukraine.
So far, I’m not seeing the same, even halfhearted commitment from the current administration.
No designations were imposed marking the third anniversary of Russia’s brutal attack against Ukraine.
Until this past week, not a single designation was levied against Russia, other than quietly allowing general license 8L to expire. The license authorized energy transactions with Russian financial institutions, allowing some time to wind down transactions with Russian banks, including Sberbank, VTB, and Russia’s Central Bank after the Biden administration in January (finally) imposed sanctions against Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz.
The designations imposed against several Russian companies last week by OFAC had to do with the Huthis, rather than Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. The targets just happened to have been Russian - a part of a Huthi procurement network.
Hong Kong-based AM Asia M6 Ltd is the registered owner, ship manager, and operator of the AM THESEUS. Russian national Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Vidanov (Vidanov) served as the captain of the AM THESEUS during some of the 2024 voyages between Crimea and Yemen, and Russian national Yuri Vladimirovich Belyakov (Belyakov) served as the vessel’s captain through the end of 2024.
Hushang, Sohrab, AM Asia M6 Ltd, Vidanov, and Belyakov are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sa’id al-Jamal. The AM THESEUS is being identified as blocked property in which AM Asia M6 Ltd has an interest.
Sohrab is the general director of three Russia-based companies: LLC Sky Frame, LLC Edison, and LLC Kolibri Group. LLC Sky Frame, LLC Edison, and LLC Kolibri Group are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, Sohrab.
What aren’t we doing?
So as Ukrainian children are murdered by Russian drones and missiles, Ukrainian infrastructure is demolished, and Moscow continues its aggression nonstop, the Trump administration refuses to impose even basic tariffs on Russia, lies about the volume of trade between our country and Russia, doesn’t impose a single designation to continue holding Putin and his cronies accountable for the war they started, and delists an oligarch’s wife, facilitating his access to the US financial system.
Oh, and did I forget to mention enforcement of sanctions against Russia appears to no longer be a priority?
The US has been largely absent from several working groups set up by allies to crack down on attempts to get around sanctions imposed on the Kremlin, the officials said, asking not to be named discussing private work.
The US has been mostly unresponsive in one group focused on stopping the Russians from obtaining parts and equipment used for producing weapons, the officials said. Another group where the US has gone quiet is dedicated to monitoring and enforcing a Group of Seven price cap on Russian oil, they added.
Meanwhile, in what I consider to be a tonedeaf post on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said we need “less talk and more action”— but only from Europe—on Ukraine. No, seriously.
The State Department two weeks ago vomited that Ukraine and Russia are “just a breath away from a full ceasefire.”
Do you believe it?