US May Consider Imposing Sanctions on 13 Russians Indicted by Mueller

Sputnik News

00:32 21.02.2018

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Department of State does not rule out potentially introducing sanctions against the 13 Russian individuals charged last week for trying to influence the 2016 US election, Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters on Tuesday.

On Friday, the US Justice Department revealed in court documents that the United States has accused 13 Russian nationals and three entities of trying to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The 27-page indictment, a product of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, alleged that the accused used fake personas to influence the outcome of the election in favor of President Donald Trump.

"Sanctions are something we typically don't forecast, but we could potentially take a look at that," Nauert said.

Earlier, Moscow responded to Mueller's office decision to charge Russian nationals and entities for alleged presidential election meddling, saying that all allegations of Russia's interference were groundless.

Recently, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the Treasury was working on new sanctions against Russia. This came after the release of the so-called "Kremlin report," which include over a hundred of high-profile Russian politicians and dozens of businessmen.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has commented on the possibility of the new anti-Russian sanctions, saying that he sees no significant threats for the country's economy or citizens.

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