US giants stand against new anti-Russian sanctions

Visa, Boeing, Ford and other US-based giants stand against the introduction of further sanctions against Russia, CNN reported with reference to a source in US Congress.

According to representatives of the corporations, the introduction of new sanctions will cause significant damage to the United States and transcontinental businesses.

The "cartel" against sanctions, according to CNN, includes oil giants BP, Exxon and General Electric, aerospace company Boeing, bank conglomerates Citigroup, Mastercard and Visa, as well as manufacturers such as Ford, Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble, International Paper, Caterpillar and Cummins.

New sanctions against Russia may have unforeseen consequences that will cause significant damage to the companies. At the same time, the companies do not believe the bill about the new sanctions should be rejected in its entirety. Members of trade associations and lobbyists representing the interests of American businesses discuss possible amendments to the bill, CNN said.

The Senate has recently approved a bill providing for new sanctions against Russia and Iran. The "package" was supposed to reduce the maximum period of market financing for sanctioned Russian banks to 14 days and for oil and gas companies - to 30 days. The bill also entitles US president to take action against companies intending to invest in the construction of Russian export pipelines either more than five million dollars a year or one million at a time. Separately, the bill is supposed to put obstacles on the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.

The Kremlin stated that Washington's aspirations to introduce more anti-Russian restrictions may lead to another wave of the war of sanctions.

To crown it all, the Chancellor of Austria and Foreign Minister of Germany saw the new US bill as a threat to Europe's energy supplies. Representatives of a number of major European energy companies also spoke against the new sanctions.