The Sanctions Shuffle

Putin loyalist and asset Donald "Rump" Trump carefully avoids any personal embrace of sanctions placed on the Kremlin and its circle of oligarchs. After all, they were instrumental in the cyber war against the Dems and Hillary Clinton in particular, and he feels a debt to them. In addition, Special Counsel Robert Mueller is asking questions that may produce new evidence that the Putin-connected oligarchs funneled money into comrade Rump's campaign through various illegal methods (the NRA being an obvious one), something that Rump wants to keep a low profile on.

While Rump wants to avoid displeasing his handler in Moscow by making these announcements himself (that would damage his upcoming performance review), his administration is frantic to appear "tough" on Russia with sanctions. But before the media applause builds, the truth is that, as experts are pointing out, "imposing" sanctions isn't the same as "enforcing" sanctions, something that Rump & Co. have worked hard to undermine. The impact of sanctions is greatly diminished when they are delayed, allowing the targets time to shift their assets around out of reach of the U.S.  Telegraphing your moves to Moscow in advance, then failing to quickly enforce the sanctions, gives the oligarchs and companies targeted plenty of time to evade them.

As with everything related to Rump and Russia, caveat emptor. 

BONUS:  Charlie Pierce at Esquire.com has his own take on the delayed sanctions.