President Trump has called for better relations between the U.S. and Russia while Congress, wary of Russian aggression, has continued to impose sanctions. The result is a seeming good-cop bad-cop approach.
Although this tactic might work well in police thrillers, in foreign policy the U.S. needs a unified strategy and a clear message that current trends in Russian aggression are unacceptable.
The next sanctions to be imposed by the U.S. against Russia stem from the poisoning earlier this year of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England. Although they were not killed, the same poison, an illegal and tightly controlled Soviet era nerve agent, did later kill a British woman who happened upon it, and sickened her partner. After independent testing confirmed the Russian origin of the poison, the UK condemned the attack on its soil. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rightly joined international outcry against the poising as well. Moscow, of course, has denied the allegations.
On August 9, Pompeo issued a formal determination finding that Russia was behind the attack. That finding triggered new sanctions under the 1991 Chemical and Biological Weapons and Warfare Elimination Act. The first set of sanctions mandated by that law took effect immediately following the determination. It targets export and financing, but it overlaps with existing restrictions. The act also mandates a second round of sanctions in three months and gives U.S. officials some choice in how Russia is penalized.
Pompeo is trying to head off additional fallout or retaliatory sanctions between the two countries by proposing a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Lavrov has apparently accepted that meeting.
Pompeo should make clear that Russian aggression, such as poising the citizens of other countries on their own soil, is unacceptable and will be punished. Since the 2016 election, Congress has moved to sanction Russia for election meddling, regional aggression and other offenses. Earlier this month, senators introduced bipartisan legislation calling for additional sanctions.
In order to drive that message home, Pompeo must echo the congressional rebuke of ongoing Russian schemes to meddle in U.S. elections. Although Trump is right that good relations between the U.S. and Russia would benefit both countries, the U.S. must not lend approval or support to Moscow’s ongoing aggressive behavior.
