U.S. official: ‘Would be surprised’ if Russia doesn’t face sanctions under new law

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Thursday she would be surprised if the United States doesn’t at some point impose sanctions on Russian firms or entities covered by a U.S. sanctions law that went into effect in late January.

The Trump administration faced criticism when the law went into effect and the department issued a list of wealthy Russians but failed to take any punitive action. Nauert told a briefing on Thursday the department has people monitoring transactions worldwide to see if sanctions are merited.

“As you know we don’t forecast sanctions,” she told the briefing, “but I would be very surprised if there weren’t sanctions in the future.”

Reporting by David AlexanderEditing by Eric Walsh

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