iLMu2lautan – Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Barack Obama belum lagi menanda-tangani rang undang-undang penjelasan cara utk lebih sekatan ekonomi terhadap Rusia. Jabatan Negara Amerika Syarikat mengesahkan Jen Psaki ‘misspoke’ semasa taklimat media.
Rang undang2 itu dijangka ditandatangani "pd akhir minggu ini," menurut kenya-taan Setiausaha Akhbar di White House Josh Earnest Selasa. Jurucakap Jabatan Negara Amerika Syarikat Jen Psaki mendakwa pd hari Rabu bahwa rang undang-undang itu telah ditandatangani.
"Beliau menandatanganinya semalam," Psaki dinyatakan semasa taklimat itu, mengganggu Gayane Chichakyan RT ini yang bertanya soalan mengenai rang undang-undang digelar Ukraine Kebebasan Akta Sokongan 2014.
Walau bagaimanapun, menurut kepada wakil-wakil White House "Presiden masih belum menandatangani undang-undang ini."
"Jen [Psaki] sebenarnya ‘misspoke’ semasa taklimat hari ini, jadi kami akan membetulkan ini dengan nota kaki pada transkrip dalam laman web dalam beberapa minit," jabatan ini officialconfirmed untuk Sputnik News Agency.
PSAKI Misspoke: OBAMA Not YET Signed NEW
Anti-Russian BILL . . .
US President Barack Obama has not yet signed a bill clearing the way for more economic sanctions against Russia. The US State Department confirmed Jen Psaki misspoke during the press briefing.
The bill was expected to be signed “by the end of the week,”according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest’s statement in Tuesday. US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki claimed on Wednesday that the bill was already signed.
“He signed it yesterday,” Psaki stated during the briefing, interrupting RT’s Gayane Chichakyan who was asking a question about the bill dubbed Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014.
However, according to representatives of the White House “the President has not yet signed this legislation.”
Rang undang-undang itu akan menyaksikan kira-kira $ 350 juta pada bantuan yang diberikan kepada Ukraine.
Selain bantuan tentera dan bukan tentera ke Ukraine, rang undang2 tambahan membolehkan pengenaan lagi sekatan bersyarat pada sektor pertahanan Rusia, seperti hukuman ke atas milik negara senjata Rosoboronexport peniaga dan orang perseorangan yang berkaitan.
Rang undang2 jg membayangkan $20 juta dana tahunan bagi menyokong "demo-krasi Rusia & masyarakat sivil organisasi" termasuk melalui peningkatan "Amerika Syarikat aktiviti penyiaran kerajaan disokong."
Satu lagi keutamaan berkembang penyiaran di negara2 bekas Kesatuan Soviet, yang akan kos lain $ 10 juta setahun.
Walaupun rang undang-undang itu tidak membuat sekatan wajib sepenuhnya, ia membolehkan Obama untuk memutuskan bahagian mana rang undang-undang untuk menguatkuasakan.
'Pendekatan ketinggalan zaman'
Berita itu datang hari yg sama Presiden Obama membuat pengumuman yg ber-sejarah mengenai "perubahan dasar" ke arah Havana & Amerika Syarikat meran-cang untuk mengangkat jualan & eksport embargo dan mewujudkan hubungan diplomatik dengan Cuba.
BACA lebih lanjut: Obama mengumumkan Amerika Syarikat akan menubuhkan kedutaan di Cuba, sekatan lif READ MORE: Obama announces US will establish embassy in Cuba, lift sanctions
Dekad "pendekatan ketinggalan zaman" membawa sebarang perubahan rejim di Cuba yang "masih ditadbir oleh Castros dan parti Komunis," Presiden Amerika Syarikat mengumumkan.
"Tiada negara lain menyertai kami dalam sekatan ini. Dan ia mempunyai kesan yang kecil, "kata Obama. "Kami akan berakhir pendekatan ketinggalan zaman yang selama beberapa dekad telah gagal untuk memajukan kepentingan kami."
Bagi Rusia, ahli politik Amerika Syarikat termasuk Obama juga telah mengakui bahawa sekatan yang dikenakan setakat ini tidak adalah seperti yang berkesan seperti g diharapkan.
Walau bagaimanapun, "setiap negara adalah sangat berbeza," Psaki berkata, nam-paknya membayangkan bahwa desakan utk "pengasingan" Rusia mungkin masih entah bagaimana mempengaruhi polisi dan proses dalam negara.
OP-EDGE: matlamat Sekatan 'adalah perubahan rejim, tidak kira Cuba atau RusiaOP-EDGE: Sanctions’ goal is regime change, no matter Cuba or Russia
Sementara itu, Kementerian Luar Rusia berharap bahawa Washington mungkin akhirnya menyedari ketidakberkesanan tekanan sekatan di negara-negara lain, kerana ia akhirnya lakukan dalam hal Cuba.
"Ia menunjukkan bahawa Presiden Amerika Syarikat yg telah mengiktirafkan yg sia-sia tahun mencuba untuk 'mengasingkan' Cuba," kata Kementerian Luar Rusia. "Kami tidak boleh tetapi berharap bahawa Washington akan cepat menyedari yang sia-sia sekatan tekanan yang sama terhadap negara lain."
The bill will see some $350 million in assistance provided to Ukraine.
Besides the military and non-military assistance to Ukraine, the bill additionally allows further imposition of conditional sanctions on the Russian defense sector, such as penalties on state-owned arms dealer Rosoboronexport as well as connected individuals.
The bill also envisions $20 million in annual funding in order to support “Russian democracy and civil society organizations” including through increasing “US government-supported broadcasting activities.”Another priority is expanded broad-casting in countries of the former Soviet Union, which will cost another $10 million per year.
Although the bill does not make sanctions fully obligatory, it allows Obama to decide which parts of the bill to enforce.
‘Outdated approach’
The news comes the very same day President Obama made a historic announcement about a “policy change” towards Havana and US plans to lift the sales and exports embargo and establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.
The decades of “outdated approach” brought no regime change in Cuba which is “still governed by the Castros and the Communist party,” the US president announced.
“No other nation joins us in these sanctions. And it has had little effect,” Obama said. “We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interest.”
In the case of Russia, US politicians including Obama have also admitted that restrictions imposed so far were not as effective as expected. However, “every country is hugely different,” Psaki said, apparently implying that the push for “isolation” of Russia may still somehow influence policies and processes within the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry meanwhile expressed hope that Washington might finally realize the ineffectiveness of sanction pressure on other countries, as it eventually did in the case of Cuba.
“It is indicative that the US president has recognized the futility of years of trying to ‘isolate’ Cuba," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "We cannot but hope that Washington will be quick to realize the futility of similar sanctions pressure on other countries.”
