What the April 2021 US bond ban meant for Russia

What did Washington's ban on new Russian sovereign debt amount to as of 21 April 2021? Six days after the measures were announced on 15 April 2021, the economic part of the package was still the focus of attention, alongside the diplomatic fallout.

The United States barred trade in bonds newly issued by Russia's Central Bank, National Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance. The step was presented as retaliation for the 2020 federal government data breach, interference in the 2020 US elections, and the occupation of and human rights abuses in Crimea.

Beyond the bond ban

The package went further than finance. Washington formally named the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service as responsible for the data breach, blacklisted 32 Russian entities and individuals, and expelled ten Russian diplomats. Russia denied the allegations.

Moscow's response

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the US ambassador and told him that a series of retaliatory measures would follow soon. A ministry spokesperson also said that a potential summit between the two countries' leaders might not take place.

The allegations behind the measures

The data breach was a cyberattack on thousands of organisations worldwide, including parts of the US federal government. It was suspected to have been carried out by a group backed by the Russian government. Affected organisations included NATO, the UK government, the European Parliament and Microsoft, according to later accounts.

On election interference, an assessment released in March 2021 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that proxies of Russian intelligence had promoted misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about Joe Biden.

For Kyiv and the wider region, the measures linked sovereign borrowing, security and Crimea in a single US action, since the occupation of Crimea was among the stated grounds. The next step was Moscow's promised retaliation.