Russian lawmakers slam US 'Kremlin list'

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The US government released its long-awaited "Kremlin Report" on Tuesday, profiling Kremlin-connected Russian elites and assessing the impact of potential new sanctions.

The list includes 114 individuals deemed by the Treasury Department to be senior Russian political figures.

It also includes 96 people deemed to be "oligarchs," each of whom has an estimated net worth of one billion US dollars or more, according to the department.

The seven-page unclassified list, which does not trigger sanctions right away, features Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and top officials in Russian intelligence agencies.

Also on the list were the chief executives of big state-owned companies such as energy giant Rosneft and Sberbank.

According to the Treasury, each figure in the "Kremlin report" has an estimated net worth of 1 billion US dollars.

Drafted on the basis of the US legislation six months ago, the "Kremlin report" also has classified annexes, which include individuals with a lower official position or with a net worth below 1 billion dollars, as well as companies with state ownership of at least 25 percent and with 2016 revenues of two billion dollars or more.

This file photo taken on July 7, 2017 shows US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shaking hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. /VCG Photo‍

The list was widely expected to infuriate Putin and send shivers through his inner circle and Moscow’s moneyed elite, threatening to cut them off from world finance.

Russian lawmakers slam US 'Kremlin list'

Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament), said that the report practically calls members of the entire Russian administration adversaries of the United States, which further complicates Russia-US relations.

"The release of the 'Kremlin list,' which includes practically the entire Russian administration and heads of leading state corporations, undermines the possibility of further dialogue, which is already at its lowest," Slutsky said.

"This will actually last for a long while. It appears that political paranoia is rather hard to cure especially if the patient denies his disease and refuses treatment," said Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament).

He warned that bilateral relations between Russia and the United States will never go back onto the right track as long as "the maniacal idea of 'US exceptionalism' stays in office in Washington."

On Monday, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow will analyze the report and the actions following the report to ensure its interests and the interests of related Russian companies.

The "Kremlin report" newly released by the United States reflects Washington's "political paranoia" which yields no result but undermines prospects of dialogue between the two countries, members of Russian parliament said Tuesday.

The list was required by a law passed by Congress last year to punish Russia for meddling in the 2016 US election - an accusation denied by Moscow - and to ensure that the Trump administration keeps up pressure on the Kremlin over military intervention in Ukraine.

Source(s): AFP ,Xinhua News Agency