US finishes list of off-limits Russians

WASHINGTON » The Trump administration gave Congress on Thursday a list of Russian officials who may soon become off-limits to anyone who wants to avoid U.S. sanctions, as criticism mounted over the administration’s tardy execution of new penalties on Moscow.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former NATO chief and adviser to Ukraine’s leader, said Russian President Vladimir Putin “must be laughing right now” at how successfully he’s undermined Western democracy. He said the lack of answers from the administration would be seen as a sign of weakness that Putin would exploit.

The former prime minister of Denmark, Rasmussen joined a growing chorus of Russia critics expressing exasperation that an Oct. 1 deadline came and went without new penalties to punish Russia for interfering in the U. S. election. A law Trump signed in August requires the administration to produce a list of individuals linked to Russia’s defense and intelligence agencies. Anyone doing business with those individuals could be hit with U.S. sanctions.

With pressure building, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson approved the list and authorized its release, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

Tillerson has said one reason for the delay has been concern about how the sanctions may affect business and major U.S. allies who do business with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors. Turkey, a NATO ally, has a deal with the Kremlin to buy the S- 400, Russia’s most advanced air defense-missile system. Key security partner Saudi Arabia recently struck an array of deals with Moscow, including contracts for Russian weapons.