What the April 2021 US sanctions on Russia set in motion
A look back at the measures Washington announced on 15 April 2021 and the Russian response that followed within days.
What did Washington's retaliatory package against Russia mean for the wider relationship, as it stood on 20 April 2021? The measures had been announced on 15 April 2021, and their consequences were still unfolding on that date.
The United States said the steps answered the 2020 federal government data breach, interference in the 2020 US elections, and the occupation of and human rights abuses in Crimea. The package banned trade in bonds newly issued by Russia's Central Bank, National Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance. It formally named the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service as responsible for the breach, blacklisted 32 Russian entities and individuals, and expelled ten Russian diplomats. Russia denied the allegations.
The scale of the grievances
The data breach was a cyberattack suspected to have been carried out by a group backed by the Russian government. As reported, it reached thousands of organisations worldwide, including parts of the US federal government, NATO, the UK government, the European Parliament and Microsoft. It was described as among the worst cyber-espionage incidents ever suffered by the US.
On elections, US intelligence analysis released in March 2021 found that proxies of Russian intelligence had promoted misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about Joe Biden. That is the backdrop to the interference charge in the sanctions package.
Moscow's response
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the US ambassador and told him that a series of retaliatory measures would follow soon. A ministry spokesperson also said a potential summit between the two countries' leaders might not take place. The warning tied the dispute directly to the prospect of high-level talks.
The package combined financial restrictions, an attribution of responsibility to a named intelligence service, blacklistings and expulsions. Moscow's reply combined a promise of countermeasures with doubt over a leaders' meeting. Beyond those stated positions, the outcome had not yet taken shape on 20 April 2021.
