Washington, Feb 10 (UNI/Sputnik) The US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee is contemplating introducing sanctions against Russia for alleged cyberattacks against Ukraine amid a protracted debate on the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022 in the US Congress, Politico reported on Thursday. The US Senate believes that Russia perpetuated several cyberattacks against Ukraine, including last month hacking, which halted nearly 70 Ukrainian government websites.
As Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez stated, retaliatory measures against Moscow for cyberattacks on Ukraine are currently on the agenda. “If there were pre-invasion sanctions, they would be connected to Russian cyberattacks inside Ukraine,” a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Murphy was quoted as saying by Politico.
Meanwhile, the positions of the senators diverged, with some lawmakers believing that sanctions for cyberattacks should be included in the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022, which entails sanctions against Russia in the event of an incursion into Ukraine, while others argue that new sanctions be introduced irrespective of an invasion. The Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022 was introduced by the White House to the Congress in mid-January and is currently under scrutiny in the US Senate.
The bill provides for the Unites States military assistance for Ukraine to contain an alleged Russian aggression and enlists possible deterrence measures to be imposed against Russian officials, financial institutions, and economic operations. Restrictions may also target Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.
The tensions around Ukraine have flared up in recent weeks with the US and European Union raising concerns over Russian military buildup at the Ukrainian border, and NATO urging allies to boost their military support for Kiev. So far, the US, UK, Canada, Poland and Baltic states have supplied several batches of arms to Ukraine, mainly handguns, ammunition and anti-tank weapons, with Washington dispatching additional forces to neighboring Poland and Romania. Russia in turn has denied intentions of invading any country and said that NATO’s military activity near Russian borders poses a threat to its national security, in addition to hampering a peaceful resolution in Ukrainian Donbas.
