Over the weekend the US State department announced that it is imposing new sanctions on 30 companies around the world of which 8 companies are of Russian origin and 11 are from China. The State department cited an existing US legislation, Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA). The State department representative said, "Penalties are being applied to eight Russian entities as a result of a regular, periodic review of specific activities as required by the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act…" and clarified that these sanctions are different from broader economic sanctions which were applied in 2014 in response to Russia’s annexation of Crime from Ukraine. The United States imposed sanctions on 150th Aircraft Repair Plant, Aviaexport, Bazalt, Kolomna Design Bureau of Machine-Building (KBM), Rosoboronexport (ROE), Ulyanovsk Higher Aviation Academy of Civil Aviation (UVAUGA), Ural Training Center for Civil Aviation (UUTsCA), Zhukovskiy and Gagarin Academy (Z&G Academy).

Russian foreign ministry expressed its disappointment over these new sanctions. Official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, “The US administration’s decision to introduce restrictions against a number of Russian organizations, including those linked to aircraft construction and training aviation specialists, raises eyebrows and arouses disappointment…” She added that this step “is not in line with Washington’s statements on priority of fight against terrorism, including its nest on the Syrian territory.”

While the world hopes for an improvement in US-Russo relation under the Trump administration, so far little clarity has emerged on how that might actually happen and these sanctions only add to the uncertainties.