President Donald Trump‘s administration on Friday sanctioned seven oligarchs with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. | Getty Images Trump sanctions Putin’s inner circle The targets include Putin's son-in-law and a billionaire linked to Paul Manafort.

The Trump administration on Friday sanctioned seven oligarchs with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including Putin’s son-in-law and businessmen with links to the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, further widening the gap between Trump's rhetoric and actions towards Russia.

Included on the sanctions list is Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire connected to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who is now under indictment for money laundering charges. Manafort’s relationship with Deripaska is under scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller.


The sanctions are sure to heighten tensions between Russia and the U.S., which have escalated even as Trump himself makes diplomatic overtures to Putin. Last month, Trump congratulated Putin on his win in an election widely viewed as a sham and invited the Russian leader to the White House. Days later, the administration expelled 60 Russian diplomats in response to a nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in Britain.

“We seek a better relationship with Russia. That can only happen when Russia curbs its aggressive behavior,” a senior administration official said. “Actions have consequences.”

“The door to dialogue is open,” the official told reporters Friday.

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Friday’s announcement builds on a string of punitive actions taken by the U.S. against the Kremlin. Congress and Trump’s national security advisers have pushed for tougher sanctions against Russia for its interference in the 2016 U.S. election and its prolonged, destructive cyberattacks in Ukraine and elsewhere.

But in a farewell speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington this week, Trump's outgoing national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said the U.S. has "failed to impose sufficient costs" on Putin's government for its military and political aggression worldwide.

The Kremlin continues to call for dialogue with Trump. Speaking in Moscow Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained about America's increasingly hostile diplomatic stance towards Russia but expressed hope that Trump and Putin could conduct a "broad dialogue" so long as it does not "fall victim to domestic political intrigues" in Washington.

Other individuals targeted on Friday include members of Putin’s inner circle, some of whom are under scrutiny from U.S. investigators for activities related to the 2016 presidential election.

Among them are Suleiman Kerimov, a top Putin adviser; Kirill Shamalov, who married Putin’s daughter in 2013; and financier Viktor Vekselberg, who attended Trump’s presidential inauguration.

Sanctions target Alexander Torshin, deputy governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, who reportedly is under investigation in the U.S. on suspicion of funneling money to the National Rifle Association to assist the Trump campaign.

Several executives and affiliates of Russia state-owned energy giant Gazprom also were designated for sanctions, including Alexey Miller, chairman of the company’s management committee.

Andrey Kostin, president of state-owned VTB Bank, was personally sanctioned. VTB itself has been under sanction since 2014 for its involvement to undermine elections in Ukraine. In 2015, Trump associate Felix Sater reportedly offered to help the Trump Organization win financing from the bank for a Moscow project.

In all, the administration designated seven Russian oligarchs and 12 of their companies, 17 senior Russian government officials, a state-owned Russian weapons trader, and an aluminum giant. The action freezes assets and generally prohibits Americans from conducting business with the targeted companies and individuals.

“The Russian government operates for the disproportionate benefit of oligarchs and government elites,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a written statement. “Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government’s destabilizing activities.”

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has pushed the Trump administration to take a harder line on Russia, joined multiple GOP colleagues in praising the action.

"These new sanctions send a clear message to Vladimir Putin that the illegal occupation of Ukraine, support for the Assad regime’s war crimes, efforts to undermine Western democracies, and malicious cyberattacks will continue to result in severe consequences for him and those who empower him,” Rubio said in a written statement.

Democrats who had lambasted the administration for delaying the implementation of sanctions against Russia under a bipartisan bill passed overwhelmingly last year also lauded Friday's announcement, although they kept pressure on Trump's advisers to do more to keep Putin's influence in check.

Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat, called on Trump to "clearly articulate a comprehensive strategy" against Moscow.

"Nearly 15 months into this Administration, the American people and our allies are still questioning whether the President is willing to fully defend our democracy and our national security," Menendez said in a statement.

Shortly after the announcement, the Trump White House issued a boastful statement titled, "President Donald J. Trump Is Standing Up To Russia’s Malign Activities" and listing numerous examples of punitive actions against the Kremlin.

Also on Friday, the English-language Russian news outlet RT quoted a senior member of the Russian Duma, Yury Shvitkin, as saying that American policy towards Russia is driven by "lobbying of the U.S. military-industrial complex."

The penalties unveiled Friday follow a so-called "oligarchs list" of Russian individuals in line for potential sanctions that Mnuchin's department released in January. The administration earlier this year opted to hold off on targeting entities that conduct major business deals with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors, which were called for in a separate section of last year's sanctions bill.

Elana Schor contributed to this report.