Washington: The US warned that it may soon impose new sanctions on Russian figures, after Vladimir Putin laughed off the release of a US target list of his closest and richest allies.
The world was braced for a US sanctions onslaught on Monday when a new law came into effect 180 days after President Donald Trump, still hopeful for warmer ties, begrudgingly signed it.
But to general surprise, Washington declined to identify any companies or individuals to face new measures, and the Treasury contented itself with issuing a list of top Russian officials and super-rich businessmen it regards as PutinтАЩs inner circle.
US intelligence agencies concluded in late 2016 that Putin had directed a broad effort to influence the presidential election that year.
The people on the list will not face immediate action тАФ despite calls for Moscow to be punished for alleged interference in the 2016 US election тАФ and Putin dismissed the USтАЩ latest тАЬunfriendly actтАЭ as a minor inconvenience.
US officials admitted the public version of the list had been drawn up based on publicly available data such as Forbes MagazineтАЩs annual lists of the super wealthy, and Putin joked that he was upset not to have been included himself.
тАЬI am offended, you know,тАЭ Putin told his supporters with a smile, citing a famous line from a popular Soviet-era movie.
The 65-year-old Russian president тАФ who is running for re-election тАФ said he had not seen the list and quoted an old proverb, тАЬthe dogs bark but the caravan goes on,тАЭ to play down the significance of WashingtonтАЩs report.
Many in Washington were underwhelmed by the enactment of the Countering AmericaтАЩs Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which Congress passed last year in the teeth of opposition from the White House to force a reluctant Trump to take on Russia.
But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Senate there would be more action under this or one of the other acts giving the US administration authority to punish Russia for human rights abuses, election interference or intervention in neighbors like Ukraine.
тАЬIn the near future, youтАЩll see additional sanctions,тАЭ Mnuchin said during Senate testimony. тАЬIn the next several months, maybe a month, I want to be careful in making that commitment.тАЭ
Democratic lawmakers pressed Mnuchin to defend the administrationтАЩs decision to hold off on new sanctions.
тАЬThere was an extraordinary amount of work that went into this,тАЭ Mnuchin said of the list.
There is a classified annex to the report which may go into more detail about what Washington knows about the oligarchsтАЩ global holdings and their ties to officials in PutinтАЩs Kremlin, but the public list looks like what it is: A list of famous Russians.
тАЬOur sanctions going forward will be based upon a lot of the work that the intelligence community did,тАЭ Mnuchin insisted. тАЬWe did not waive or delay.тАЭ
The list is led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, one of 114 political or official figures on the list, alongside 96 people considered тАЬoligarchsтАЭ worth at least $1 billion (тВм805 million) each, like tycoons Roman Abramovich or Oleg Deripaska.
Putin said WashingtonтАЩs тАЬKremlin listтАЭ was a blow to not only the government and business circles, but to the entire country.
тАЬEssentially, all of us, everyone out of the 146 million people have been put on some sort of list,тАЭ Putin said.
He said the US report further complicates US-Russia ties as well as international relations, but added that тАФ while he has тАЬreciprocal measuresтАЭ in mind тАФ he would take no action for now.
тАЬWe are not interested in curtailing our ties with the United States,тАЭ he said. тАЬWe know what we want. We want to build long-term, stable ties based on international law.тАЭ
Putin is widely expected to win a fourth presidential term in March, extending his Kremlin rule until 2024 and becoming the longest-serving Russian leader since dictator Joseph Stalin.
The seven-page unclassified report also includes the names of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and energy giant RosneftтАЩs chief executive Igor Sechin, considered by many to be RussiaтАЩs second most powerful man.
RussiaтАЩs credit rating agency ACRA said the US report had тАЬnot affected significantly the financial stability of our country.тАЭ
PutinтАЩs bete noire, anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny тАФ who is barred from standing in the March election тАФ said the US list exceeded his expectations, adding that it features many of those he and his team had investigated in the past.
тАЬIтАЩd say this is a rather precise description of PutinтАЩs Kremlin mafia,тАЭ the opposition politician told Echo of Moscow radio.
Washington imposed sanctions on Moscow following RussiaтАЩs 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and MoscowтАЩs meddling in eastern Ukraine.
Tensions between the two countries have grown despite TrumpтАЩs promises to mend fences between the former Cold War-era enemies. Putin has sought to turn the tables on Washington, claiming the US wanted to see Navalny elected president.