The Biden administration slapped new sanctions on Russia and expelled diplomats over cyberattacks and election interference

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Joe Biden
President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Washington AP Photo/Evan Vucci

  • The Biden administration issued new sanctions against Russia on Thursday.

  • The sanctions target over 30 Russian entities and expel a number of Russian diplomats from the US.

  • The sanctions also formally accuse Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service of being behind last year's SolarWinds hack.

  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

The Biden administration issued sanctions on Russia on Thursday, targeting more than 30 Russian entities and expelling 10 diplomats over cyberattacks and election interference.

"The Biden administration has been clear that the United States desires a relationship with Russia that is stable and predictable," the Biden administration announced. "We do not think that we need to continue on a negative trajectory. However, we have also been clear - publicly and privately - that we will defend our national interests and impose costs for Russian Government actions that seek to harm us."

As part of the sanctions, the Biden administration accused Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service of being behind the massive SolarWinds hack, in which hackers exploited software from the IT group SolarWinds to compromise data from thousands of customers and several federal agencies.

"The scope of this compromise is a national security and public safety concern," the White House said. "Moreover, it places an undue burden on the mostly private sector victims who must bear the unusually high cost of mitigating this incident."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the sanctions would "serve to reduce Russian resources available to carry out similar malign activities."

"These actions are intended to hold Russia to account for its reckless actions," he said in the statement. "We will act firmly in response to Russian actions that cause harm to us or our allies and partners."

The sanctions come after President Joe Biden spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin earlier this week.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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