United States of America Florida Senator, Marco Rubio has urged the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken to sanction the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria for purchasing military equipment from Russia.
Mr. Rubio in a letter to the Secretary of State, published on his website said the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (P.L.115-44) authorizes sanctions designations against any party that the President determines knowingly engages in a significant transaction with a person that is part of, or operates for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sectors of the Government of the Russian Federation.”
The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Marco Rubio sent a letter to Mr. Blinken calling for appropriate designation of parties whose significant purchase of Russian materiel enable Russia’s destabilizing actions.
The letter said “Russia is Algeria’s largest military supplier. Algeria is also among the top four purchasers of Russian arms worldwide, culminating with a $7 billion arms deal in 2021. Influx of money from any source to Russia will only further enable Russia’s war machine in Ukraine. Yet, sanctions available to you have not yet been utilized.”
He added that “I encourage you to take the threat Russia continues to pose to global stability seriously and to appropriately designate parties whose significant purchase of Russian materiel enable Russia’s destabilizing actions.”
Below is the full text of the letter.
Dear Secretary Blinken:
I write with great concern with regard to the ongoing defense procurement between the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria and the Russian Federation.
As you know, Section 231 of the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act directs the President to impose sanctions designations against parties engaged in significant transactions with representatives of the defense or intelligence sectors of the Government of the Russian Federation. The President has delegated that authority to the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury.
Russia is Algeria’s largest military supplier. Algeria is also among the top four purchasers of Russian arms worldwide, culminating with a $7 billion arms deal in 2021. Influx of money from any source to Russia will only further enable Russia’s war machine in Ukraine. Yet, sanctions available to you have not yet been utilized.
Accordingly, I encourage you to take the threat Russia continues to pose to global stability seriously and to appropriately designate parties whose significant purchase of Russian materiel enable Russia’s destabilizing actions.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,