US to expand sanctions for illegal detention of Americans

WASHINGTON, Apr 28 (PRIME) -- Washington will continue to expand sanctions against foreign individuals and authorities that the U.S. thinks are involved in illegal detentions of Americans overseas, a high-ranked representative of the U.S. administration told reporters late on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Washington introduced sanctions on Russia and Iran for the detention of American citizens, including on Russia’s Federal Security Service.

The representative said that it was only the first step of Washington’s action plan, and that it was working on similar actions against other individuals and entities. The U.S. administration started working on the sanctions long before the arrest of journalist Evan Gershkovich in Russia, the representative added.

The Federal Security Service of Russia detained the Wall Street Journal’s reporter Gershkovich on March 30 on suspicion of espionage in favor of the U.S. government. According to the investigation, Gershkovich was collecting top-secret information about activity of one of Russia’s defense companies.

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