US to announce new sanctions against Russia next week

CNN reports on the timing of the imposition of the sanctions, citing sources from the US Department of State. The channel's interlocutors do not disclose the details of the restrictions. It is only known that the sanctions are stipulated by the intelligence report on election interference.

The US Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security will prepare their report. After that, the authorities will impose restrictions.

The timing of possible sanctions is not commented on in the White House. Note that at a briefing on March 16, Presidential Press Secretary Jen Psaki answered questions about the introduction of new restrictions in connection with cyber attacks. She linked them to the consideration of other charges against the Russian Federation.

"Consideration continues on SolarWinds, as well as on awards for the heads of soldiers and, of course, on interference in the 2020 elections. We will carry out this consideration to the end, and then, of course, the president reserves the right to decide to answer as he sees fit”, - Psaki told the media representatives.

The day before, American intelligence accused Moscow of interfering in the US presidential elections, namely, in attempts to help Donald Trump and discredit Joe Biden. The report says about cyber attacks from the Russian side, which could affect the course of the vote.

In turn, the Russian Embassy in the United States called the accusations unfounded.

"The document prepared by the US intelligence community is another set of groundless accusations against our country of interfering in American internal political processes. The conclusions of the report on the conduct of Russian influence operations in America are confirmed solely by the confidence of intelligence services in their correctness", - said in a commentary on the diplomatic mission on Facebook.

The Russian side emphasizes that Washington does not provide any specific facts or evidence.

The accusations brought by the American side are considered by the Russian Embassy as a continuation of "megaphone diplomacy" to maintain the negative background around Russia.

"To blame external players for destabilizing the situation inside the country. This attitude of the administration is unlikely to correspond to our proposed equal and mutually respectful expert dialogue to find solutions to the most pressing issues", - the statement emphasizes.

It's worth reminding that in early March, the United States put forward a new ultimatum to Russia related to opposition leader Alexey Navalny.