The Trump Administration on Aug. 2 imposed a second round of sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow’s 2018 use of chemical weapons in the United Kingdom to poison a former Russian spy. Three days later, the White House intensified pressure on the administration of Nicolás Maduro by imposing broad economic sanctions against the Government of Venezuela, a move that could escalate existing tensions with China and … wait for it … Russia!

So much for collusion.

For the seed that planted the intensified economic pressure on the Kremlin, you have to go back to March 2018, when former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal (a British national) and his daughter were poisoned with Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, at their home in Salisbury, England. 

The UK determined that the Russian government was responsible for the attacks and, in response, the U.S. expelled Russian officials, closed the Russian consulate in Seattle and, in August 2018, announced sanctions that impacted arms sales and foreign assistance to Russia. The second round of sanctions concern restricted export licensing and loans and other financial assistance from U.S. banks and international financial institutions to Russia. 

As was the case with Russia, the Venezuela sanctions came as a result of a late-night Executive Order by President Donald Trump, who blocked all property, and interests in property, of the South American country’s government that are within the jurisdiction of the U.S. The Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized to impose secondary sanctions on non-U.S. persons who materially support or provide goods or services to the Venezuelan government. 

Trump’s order accuses the Maduro regime of “human rights abuses,” “interference with freedom of expression” and “ongoing attempts to undermine Interim President Juan Guaidó and the Venezuelan National Assembly’s exercise of legitimate authority in Venezuela.”