Political analysts explain family nature of US sanctions against Kerimov and Kadyrov

By extending sanctions on relatives of Suleiman Kerimov and Ramzan Kadyrov, the USA is assessing the dependence of these politicians on the Kremlin and their ability to influence Putin, Pavel Zolotaryov, a deputy director of the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), believes. Relatives of high-ranking officials have no need to be associated with specific political or economic projects in order to fall under US sanctions, Professor Vladimir Batyuk from the Division of World Politics at the National Research Institute "Higher School of Economics".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the US Treasury had introduced sanctions against relatives of Dagestani Senator and billionaire, Suleiman Kerimov, as well as against his partners. In September, the USA tightened sanctions against Ramzan Kadyrov by extending them on his relatives – his wife Medni and three daughters, as well as on Fatima Khazueva and Aminad Akhmadova, who were named Kadyrov's wives on the sanction list.

The US sanctions against relatives of influential Russian politicians and businessmen, such as Kerimov and Kadyrov, fit into the overall agenda for applying tougher sanctions, Nikita Petrov, an associate at the Carnegie Endowment, has noted.

The sanctions imposed by the USA on relatives of influential Russians cannot be challenged, but they are not global in nature – in certain countries, in particular, in China, there are no restrictions for those on the American sanctions lists, Mr Petrov has added.

The extension of sanctions onto relatives of high-ranking Russian officials can be treated as standard US practice; there is no special approach to this process, Professor Vladimir Batyuk, an expert on USA, believes.