April 4, 2014 | Quote
Miley Cyrus Gig Legal Limbo Shows U.S. Tactic for Russia Squeeze
When it comes to creating the maximum amount of pressure on Russia over its annexation of Crimea, the U.S. Treasury has found that ambiguity has its virtues.
Treasury officials have been tight-lipped in their guidance to U.S. companies about how to deal with Russian firms that, while not directly targeted by U.S. sanctions, have links to individuals or institutions that are.
The result is that companies are erring on the side of caution, amplifying the impact of sanctions that so far apply to just one company, OAO Bank Rossiya, and 31 individuals. JPMorgan Chase & Co., for example, temporarily suspended a payment of less than $5,000 to a Russian firm that isn’t even on the blacklist. Organizers of a Miley Cyrus concert in a Helsinki hall owned by sanctioned individuals are checking to see if it can go ahead.
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There are good reasons for the Treasury’s reticence, said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.
“These sanctions were put together very, very quickly,” he said. “It really is complex to get it right. And you are not going to sanction any entity lightly.”