Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of State today released public guidance concerning energy sanctions relating to the Russian Federation, specifically Sections 225 and 232 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Department of State guidance can be found at https://www.state.gov/e/enr/c77802.htm . This guidance is not a sanctions action; it is a publication of information intended to provide clarity regarding the implementation of sanctions.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today also published guidance for sections 223(a), 223(d), 226, 228, and 233 of CAATSA, which can be found at https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/caatsa.aspx .

The CAATSA sanctions were imposed pursuant to legislation reflecting an overwhelming bipartisan consensus of the U.S. Congress to deter aggressive behavior by the Russian government. We continue to call on Russia to honor its commitments under the Minsk agreements, to withdraw from the Crimean Peninsula, and to cease its malicious cyber intrusions.

We received and considered input from a wide range of interlocutors – foreign governments, industry associations, and individual companies – as we formulated guidance for these sections. We will work with our allies and partners in the implementation of these sanctions in order to impose costs on the Russian government, while seeking to avoid unforeseen negative impacts on others.