Trump says to sign new sanctions as soon as Russia deserves it

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW, Apr 19 (PRIME) -- U.S. President Donald Trump will impose new sanctions on Russia as soon as Moscow “deserves it,” Trump said in a news conference late on Wednesday.

When asked when Washington will hit Moscow with new sanctions, he said, “As soon as they very much deserve it.”

On April 6, the U.S. imposed sanctions against 38 Russian tycoons, officials and companies including tycoon Oleg Deripaska and his companies aluminum giant UC RUSAL and holding En+ Group. U.S. Investors were allowed to sell the shares and bonds of RUSAL until May 7.

RUSSIA RESILIENT

International rating agency Moody’s said on Wednesday in a research note that Russia’s strong public and external finances will help it shield the broader economy from the impact of new U.S. sanctions. Still, the restrictions will have a negative impact on ratings of some debt issuers, including RUSAL.

The banking system can weather the negative consequences of the sanctions. “The Russian banking system has sufficient earnings capacity to absorb credit losses from exposures to sanctioned companies,” Moody’s said.

The combined exposure is less than 2% of the banking system’s assets, or 15% of capital. “In addition, the banking system has ample liquidity to assume a significant part of corporate refinancing needs if needed,” the research note read.

Liu Yang, an economist at China Development Bank, said at a session of the Brookings Institution in Washington that China is focused on cooperation with Russia despite the sanctions.

Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Italy’s Eni, told Reuters that the company does not plan to withdraw from joint projects with Russian oil major Rosneft in spite of the threats of new anti-Russian sanctions. “We certainly have not pulled out, we’re working with them,” he said.

“We need to see why more sanctions have been imposed and how they will be applied, but it’s not that we’ve closed relations with Rosneft, we are here and will remain here,” Descalzi said.

Bloomberg also reported citing a press secretary of Ireland’s Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation that the government was studying risks of local alumina producer Aughinish Alumina in the wake of the U.S. sanctions against RUSAL. This is a global situation, it is uncertain and still developing, the agency reported with a reference to the spokesperson.

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