The United States Department of the Treasury has amended sanctions placed on Russia by President Obama after the nation launched cyberattacks to disrupt the 2016 Presidential Election.

The changes, announced in a statement today, make it easier for American technology companies to sell electronic devices to Russia and the nation’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

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Every electronic device imported into Russia and carrying any form of encryption must first pass through the FSB, a successor to the infamous KGB. December’s sanctions effectively banned sales of those devices to Russian intelligence and the Russian consumer market.

In a press briefing, Sean Spicer insisted that paring back these sanctions was not a policy shift. He says such changes were part of a “regular course of action” to correct for unintended consequences of sanctions.

Such actions aren’t new; sanctions on Iran were similarly amended by the Obama Administration when it came to light that sanctions banned certain types of medicine as well, according to USA Today. Still, Democrats in the House and Senate reacted to the news with alarm. Nancy Pelosi called the easing of sanctions “staggeringly dangerous.”

Both House Majority Leader Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have taken less forgiving stances on Russia. Just last week, for example, Mitch McConnell told an interviewer, “If there’s any country in the world that doesn’t deserve sanctions relief, it’s Russia,” according to The Hill.

Russian state media excitedly reported on the news, announcing it well before the Treasury made a formal statement. “This is the first step on the way leading to cooperation in the war on terror,” said former director of the FSB Nikolai Kovalyov. “Without easing these sanctions, it would have been impossible to take the next step.”</s>Sanctions have emerged as a favoured policy tool of choice for the United States, which has used them against challenges as varied as drug trafficking, cyber attacks, jihadist financing, and Russian actions in Ukraine.

The economic measures enable the U.S. government to blacklist people and organizations, banning U.S. and sometimes even foreign citizens from dealing with them and effectively barring them from the international financial system.

For example, the United States was able to induce buyers of Iranian oil to sharply curtail their purchases, and international banks cut ties with Iran for fear of losing access to the U.S. financial system. Iran reached a deal with the United States and other world powers last July that lifted the harshest measures in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

But "sanctions overreach" risks encouraging businesses to avoid the U.S. financial system and could erode the power of the U.S. dollar as the pre-eminent reserve currency, Lew said during a speech in Washington.

"The more we condition use of the dollar and our financial system on adherence to U.S. foreign policy, the more the risk of migration to other currencies and other financial systems in the medium-term grows," Lew said.

In particular, so-called secondary sanctions should be wielded in the most "exceptional" circumstances, Lew said. Those measures bar even non-U.S. citizens from dealing with sanctioned individuals or companies, and were the type of sanctions levied against Iran.

"They are viewed even by some of our closest allies as extra-territorial attempts to apply U.S. foreign policy to the rest of the world," Lew said, adding that the Iran nuclear sanctions should not be viewed as a "starting point" for other sanctions programs.

Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail have criticized the removal of sanctions on Iran, and legislators have tried to restrict President Barack Obama's ability to lift sanctions under the nuclear deal.

But because Iran had "kept its end of the deal," Lew said, the United States should uphold the sanctions relief it has promised.

In recent weeks, Iranian leaders have complained that U.S. policies have forced major banks and corporations to stay away from Iran despite the formal lifting of sanctions in January.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday adjusted sanctions on Russian intelligence agency FSB, making limited exceptions to the measures put in place by former President Barack Obama over accusations Moscow tried to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election with cyber attacks on political organizations.

Cars drive past the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in central Moscow, Russia, November 10, 2015. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

The department said in a statement it would allow U.S. companies to make limited transactions with FSB that are needed to gain approval to import information technology products into Russia.

At the White House, President Donald Trump responded to a reporter’s question about whether he was easing sanctions on Russia, saying, “I’m not easing anything.”

Sanctions experts and former Obama administration officials stressed the exceptions to the sanctions imposed in December do not signal a broader shift in Russia policy.

In a conference call with reporters, a senior Treasury Department official said the exceptions were “a very technical fix” made in response to “direct complaints” from companies that were unable to import many consumer technology products without a permit from the FSB. The action had been in the making for weeks before Trump took office on Jan. 20, the official said.

Beyond its intelligence function, the FSB also regulates the importation of software and hardware that contains cryptography. Companies need FSB approval even to import broadly available commercial products such as cell phones and printers if they contain encryption.

Peter Harrell, a sanctions expert and former senior U.S. State Department official, said Treasury officials likely had not considered the issue in December.

“I don’t think when they sanctioned FSB they were intending to complicate the sale of cell phones and tablets,” Harrell said.

David Mortlock, a former National Security Council advisor for Obama said that before granting such exceptions, the administration would ask who a sanction was hurting and who it was benefiting.

Mortlock, now an attorney, said “here it’s a pretty easy calculus” because it was clear tech companies were the ones harmed by not being able to import software into Russia, not the spy agencies.

U.S. intelligence agencies accused the FSB of involvement in hacking of Democratic Party organizations during the election to discredit Democrat Hillary Clinton and help Republican Trump.

The agencies and private cyber security experts concluded the FSB first broke into the Democratic National Committee’s computer system in the summer of 2015 and began monitoring email and chat conversations.

They said FSB was one of two Russian spy agencies involved in a broad operation approved by top-ranking people in the Russian government. In December, Obama expelled 35 suspected Russian spies and sanctioned two spy agencies. He also sanctioned four Russian intelligence officers and three companies that he said provided support to the cyber operations.</s>(AP) – The White House says a new Treasury Department action does not mean the U.S. is easing sanctions on Russia. Treasury had amended the sanctions former President Barack Obama slapped on Moscow in retaliation for election-related hacking to allow “certain transactions” with Russia’s Federal Security Service, or the FSB.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer called the move part of the “regular course of action.” Some U.S. companies had expressed concern that the sanctions would limit their ability to sell electronics to Russia. The FSB has control over imports to Russia of devices with encryption technology.

Obama levied the sanctions after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia meddled in the presidential election on Trump’s behalf. Trump had frequently talked about wanting a warmer relationship with Russia, sparking concern among allies.</s>U.S. eases restrictions on cyber-security sales to Russian spy agency The U.S. Treasury allows U.S. companies to do business with the Russian Federal Security Service, Check out this story on dailyworld.com: http://usat.ly/2k0be6s A woman walks along a bridge over the Moskva river near the Kremlin during a sunny winter day in Moscow on Feb. 2, 2017. The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday eased some economic sanctions against Russia, specifically licensing cyber-security sales to the Russian Federal Security Service, the successor to the KGB, according to official documents.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Daily World.</s>WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Treasury Department has eased some financial sanctions imposed on Russia's lead domestic security agency, a move experts said appeared to be aimed at helping U.S. technology companies.

The directive, issued on February 2 by the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, comes as the agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), is under close scrutiny for its alleged interference in last year’s U.S. presidential election.

Speaking to reporters the day the directive was published, White House spokesman Sean Spicer denied the order amounted to an easing of sanctions. He said it was a "carve-out," which is common practice for the Treasury Department when clarifying the implementation of sanctions.

It’s a "regular course of action that Treasury does quite often when there are sanctions imposed," Spicer said.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a report last month that Moscow sought to influence the election won by Republican Donald Trump by breaching computer servers and political-party e-mail accounts, as well as through propaganda.

Eight days prior to the report's release, then-President Barack Obama announced new sanctions against the agency, along with Russia's military intelligence agency (GRU) and several related entities, in retaliation for the alleged hacking.

But experts said that Obama's executive order, announced on December 29, was overly broad and hampered the ability of technology companies to do business in Russia because the FSB, in addition to conducting counterespionage and surveillance, also oversees licensing for some technology products that utilize encryption tools, like mobile phones or laptops.

The new Treasury order authorizes IT companies looking to import, distribute, or use certain information technologies in Russia to pay up to $5,000 in a calendar year for licenses that might be issued by the FSB.

Sam Cutler, a sanctions expert with the New York-based consultancy Horizon Client Access, told RFE/RL the move appeared aimed mainly at aiding U.S. companies.

The FSB's "designation inadvertently caused compliance problems for U.S. companies exporting certain goods to Russia," said Erich Ferrari, a Washington-based lawyer who specializes in Treasury sanctions. "This general license was necessary to prevent a de facto embargo of certain goods reaching non-designated parties in Russia -- which is the majority of Russia."

The directive also explicitly states that it "does not authorize the exportation, re-exportation, or provision of goods or technology to or on behalf" of the FSB.

Adam Smith, who was a senior official with the Office of Foreign Assets Control until August 2015, said there were at least three other examples in the past 18 months of sanctions being rolled out.

"But then the collateral consequences were significant, or even dire potentially, so then they pared them back, and that hopefully allows for greater targeting of nefarious activity," he said.

Still, the decision comes at a time of heightened scrutiny about the FSB, the GRU, and other Russian security agencies and their purported activities in the United States.

The new administration also faces persistent concerns over Trump's past statements that he wants to improve relations with Moscow that were badly strained over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

Kyiv, in particular, fears that a warmer relationship between Trump and the Kremlin will result in the lifting of U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia for its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

However, the February 2 order also explicitly stipulates that the exemption does not apply to products being shipped to the "Crimea region of Ukraine."

In Moscow, there was no immediate official response to the announcement, but Nikolai Kovalyov, a lawmaker and former FSB director, said it was an indication that the Trump administration wanted to work more closely with Russia on fighting terrorism and other matters.

"This shows that actual joint work on establishing an antiterrorism coalition is about to begin," Kovalyov was quoted by TASS as saying. "This is the first step on the way leading to cooperation in the war on terror."</s>The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday that it is easing some restrictions on business transactions with Russia's Security Service (FSB), despite cyber-sanctions put in place by former President Barack Obama.

The order published on the Treasury Department's website appeared to ease restrictions on some information technology products, and allow companies to pay up to $5,000 per year for permits or licenses that are issued by the FSB.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the move doesn't mean the U.S. is easing sanctions on Russia.

"We’re not easing sanctions. The Treasury Department, from what I understand, it’s a fairly common practice for the Treasury Department after sanctions are put in place to go back and look at whether or not there needs to be specific carve outs for different, either, industries, or products or services that need to be going back and forth but I would refer you back to the treasury department on that one," he said.

 

 President Donald Trump was also asked about the development and said he is "not easing anything."

Former President Barack Obama strengthened the sanctions in December after U.S. intelligence agencies accused Russia of hacking computers connected to the Democratic Party as part of a broad campaign to undermine presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

U.S. intelligence agencies are still investigating the breach.</s>The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday eased some economic sanctions against Russia, specifically licensing cyber-security sales to the Russian Federal Security Service, the successor to the KGB, according to official documents.

General License No. 1 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department covers "all transactions and activities" involving the Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, that were prohibited by earlier executive orders.

It notes in particular that "requesting, receiving, utilizing, paying for, or dealing in licenses, permits, certifications, or notifications issued or registered by the Federal Security Service (FSB) for the importation, distribution, or use of information technology products in the Russian Federation" is allowed.

 

 The initial sanctions, imposed by President Obama in April 2015, were titled "Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities." That was further strengthened in December in an order entitled, "Taking Additional Steps to Address the national emergency with Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-enabled Activities."

President Trump brushed off the reports, saying, "I'm not easing ... anything."

At the White House, press secretary Sean Spicer also disputed that the move by Treasury was "easing" sanctions.

“We’re not easing,” he said, adding that, “It is, from what I understand, a regular course of action” that Treasury takes when sanctions are imposed.

“It’s a fairly common practice for the Treasury Department, after sanctions are put in place, to go back and look at whether or not there needs to be specific carve-outs for different, either industries or products and services that need to be going back and forth,” he said.

Spicer maintained the change does not represent any shift in policy and referred further questions to the Treasury Department, which did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The December sanctions were put in place after Obama charged that the Russians sought to affect U.S. elections via cyber-espionage.



 Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., ranking member of a House CIA subcommittee, accused the Trump administration of “rewarding” the FSB for tampering with the U.S. elections.

“This is the same group (FSB) that, just a month ago, our intelligence community determined was responsible for the attack on our democracy,” Swalwell told USA TODAY. “We just made it easier for the same group to import into Russia the tools they could use to hack us or our allies again.”

Swalwell said he will explore methods for Congress to enact its own sanctions.

“We have French and German elections coming up, and we just made it easier (for the FSB) to go after them,” he said. “They can sharpen the knives and come after us again.”

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to make a statement on the decision, Russian news agency TASS said in reporting the easing of sanctions,

"First we need to understand what it is all about," Peskov said, according to TASS. "If we turn to the rocket engines matter, we will see that our U.S. counterparts never impose sanctions that could damage their own interests."

The move comes as some members of Congress have proposed adding new sanctions to Russia in connection with the hacking allegations.

Last month, Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham pushed for greater sanctions against Russia for trying to influence the U.S. election and said then President-elect Donald Trump was in danger of being in conflict with congressional Republicans if he didn't get tougher on Russian President Vladimir Putin.</s>A Russian agency sanctioned for hacking US political groups won't be quite so restricted now.

The sanctions, issued by then-President Barack Obama in December, barred US businesses from dealing with the Russian Federal Security Service, but it turns out the US has at least one reason to keep doing business with the agency -- getting permission to export electronics and other information technology to Russia.

On Thursday, the US Department of the Treasury issued a license (PDF) letting US exporters obtain permits from the Russian Federal Security Service for "the importation, distribution, or use of information technology products in the Russian Federation."

The change to the sanctions set off disagreement in Washington over whether President Donald Trump was going easy on Russia. Trump has equivocated on whether he'll maintain these sanctions, which targeted eight other entities in addition to the Federal Security Service, and other sanctions that Obama issued in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the change wasn't a sign of Trump rolling back the sanctions against Russia.

"It's a fairly common practice for the Treasury Department, after sanctions are put in place, to go back and look at whether there needs to be specific carve-outs for different industries or products and services that need to be going back and forth," Spicer told reporters at a press briefing Thursday.

But US Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, said the change would help Russia. "Easing these sanctions allows Russia to sharpen its knives and import tools from the United States to hack us again," Swalwell said in a statement. "Congress must act swiftly to re-impose these sanctions so that those who attack America know there's a price to pay."

The Treasury Department didn't respond to a request for comment on whether the license permits US companies to sell products directly to the Russian Federal Security Service. Experts told Politico that the agency, said by cybersecurity experts and the US intelligence community to have hacked the Democratic National Committee and the Pentagon, would not be the purchaser of US electronics and other IT products under the revised sanctions.

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Life, disrupted: In Europe, millions of refugees are still searching for a safe place to settle. Tech should be part of the solution. But is it? CNET investigates.</s>Feb. 2 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury on Thursday revised sanctions on Russia imposed by former President Barack Obama five weeks ago that banned cybersecurity sales to Russia’s Federal Security Service — the agency that supposedly meddled in the American presidential election with a series of Internet hackings.

The Treasury Department amended the sanctions against the FSB, the main successor agency to the KGB, to authorize U.S. sales of tech tools to the agency “that are necessary and ordinarily incident to requesting certain licenses and authorizations for the importation, distribution, or use of certain information technology products in the Russian Federation.”

Obama first issued sanctions against the FSB in 2015 and reinforced them with a supplemental order on Dec. 29 to punish Moscow for its purported interference in the U.S. presidential election. On that same day, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security had released a joint report alleging that Russia was involved in the cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee.

Thursday’s change by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Treasury’s fiscal intelligence and enforcement arm, allows American technology firms to export products to Russia as long as they aren’t used in the Crimean Peninsula, and don’t violate existing sanctions.

The FSB, along with Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, replaced the Soviet-era KGB after the communist regime’s 1991 collapse.

At a news briefing Thursday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that the move was not an easing of sanctions, but rather a routine reevaluation.

“We’re not easing,” he said. “From what I understand, [it is] a regular course of action the Treasury does quite often.”

“It’s a fairly common practice for the Treasury Department, after sanctions are put in place, to go back and to look at whether or not there needs to be specific carve-outs for different industries or products and services that need to be going back and forth,” Spicer continued.

Some policy experts say the move is effectively a cleanup effort to address unforeseen side effects.

“This isn’t Trump weakening sanctions,” Eric Lorber, a consultant at Financial Integrity Network, said Thursday. “Unintended consequences popped up, OFAC dealt with them. Looks like good job by OFAC.”

Some critics, though, have characterized the change as rewarding Moscow for interfering in November’s election.

“[Russia] attacked our democracy. They should pay a price,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., tweeted Thursday. “[Trump] rewards them by rolling back sanctions against their team of hackers.”

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to questions about the amendment. Trump’s treasury secretary nominee, Steven Mnuchin, won approval Wednesday from the Senate Finance Committee and will now receive a vote in the full chamber.

For months, critics have expressed concern about possible ties between Trump and Russia in the past, and some have even asked for the FBI to investigate potential connections.
The United States Department of the Treasury eases some sanctions on the Federal Security Service (FSB), allowing for limited transactions with the intelligence agency. The sanctions were put in place last year by Barack Obama over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.