A member of the Russian house of parliament, or State Duma, has said that with the U.S. easing of sanctions against the Russia security services, or FSB, anti-terror operations can now being. The former director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) Nikolai Kovalyov, told the Russian State News Agency TASS, “This shows that actual joint work on establishing an anti-terrorism coalition is about to begin,” Kovalyov said. “This is the first step on the way leading to cooperation in the war on terror.”
“Without easing these sanctions it would have been impossible to take the next step,” the lawmaker said. “These practical actions indicate that US President Donald Trump has been consistent,” he stressed.
According to the General License No. 1 posted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department on Thursday, the US authorities have eased sanctions against Russia’s FSB.
“All transactions and activities” involving the Russian Federal Security Service, prohibited earlier by executive orders of the US President, are authorized with certain exceptions, the document reads.
White House press spokesman, Sean Spicer, said today in a news conference that the easing was simply a ‘routine’ change in the sanctions by the Treasury Department. It is likely that this answer will not satisfy the American press and we expect more to come on this issue.
