U.S. senator announces stalemate in anti-Russian sanctions discussions

The development of a bill on sanctions against RUSSIA in the US Senate has stalled, said Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez. His words on his Twitter are quoted by CNN's chief correspondent in the US Congress, Manu Raju.

“I think we have reached a dead end,” Menendez told a journalist, referring to the Russia sanctions bill. The senator clarified that the "freeze" is associated with sanctions against banks and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, and now the Senate is looking for other ways to resolve the issue.

On January 12, the US Senate published a draft prepared by Democrats, including Menendez, a new package of sanctions against Russia's public debt, the banking sector and the country's leadership. The proposed measures are related to the situation around Ukraine.

According to the project, 12 high-ranking officials from Russia may be subject to restrictions, including President Vladimir Putin , Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, ministers Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu. In the banking sector, sanctions may affect at least three organizations from the following list: Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, VEB, RDIF, MKB, Alfa-Bank, Rosselkhozbank, Otkritie, Promsvyazbank, Sovcombank, Transcapitalbank.