THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS PAID RUSSIAN companies over $8 million to maintain its embassy in Moscow, a Newsweek investigation has found, with one company that was awarded a contract later placed under sanction by Canada.
Shortly after launching its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia was slapped with economic sanctions by the United States and its allies around the world. The U.S. went on to seize approximately $300 billion of Russian Central Bank assets as well as $30 billion of assets of officials close to President Vladimir Putin.
The embassy contracts have drawn criticism from campaign groups and politicians, including Idaho Republican Congressman Russ Fulcher.
"Even if these contracts are relatively small, I voted on legislation to halt American investments into Russia, and providing jobs for their citizens is doing just that," he said. The U.S. ceased using certain Libyan-owned products and businesses for its diplomatic mission in Tripoli, a source who used to work in government told Newsweek, when the North African nation was under sanction following the fall of the Gaddafi regime. This had led some Russia watchers to wonder why the same cannot be done in Moscow.
The U.S. government, however, has suggested it is not possible.
Can using Russian workers and resources be justified as the price of maintaining a diplomatic presence in the country? Newsweek investigates.
'Significant Income for Russia'
According to a Newsweek analysis of procurement data, the government has awarded 41 contracts amounting to $8,054,780.36 in value to 12 Russian companies.
Denne historien er fra March 01 - 08, 2024 (Double Issue)-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
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Denne historien er fra March 01 - 08, 2024 (Double Issue)-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
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Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout'
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
Amber Ruffin
A LATE-NIGHT COMEDY SHOW ON CNN? YES, and it's a game show, too.
