Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov downplays 'Putin List'

Moscow [Russia], Jan 30 (ANI): Dmitry Peskov, the chief spokesman to Russian President Vladimir Putin is unaffected by the release of the "Putin List" by the US Treasury Department that was made public late on Monday.

Peskov's name is revealed in the list, which also includes Putin, Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"I feel nothing about it [regarding his name on the list]. I am pretty much indifferent to that," he was quoted by the TASS agency.

Meanwhile, The Treasury Department denied the "Putin list" as a sanctions list.

"No restrictions are being imposed on the listed individuals. This move creates no obstacles for business contacts with US citizens provided that these individuals are not subject to sanctions," the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

Earlier, the Trump Administration released a list of Russian politicians and businessmen, who have "flourished" under Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule.

The US Treasury Department published the list through the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAASTA), which was meant to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential elections, the annexation of Crimea and the ongoing military operations in eastern Ukraine by the Russian forces, according to CNN.

The list consists of around 114 Russian politicians and 96 businessmen and industrialists, who are having "extremely close" ties with Putin, Medvedev, Peskov and Lavrov.

The Treasury Department stated that the list was "based on objective criteria drawn from publicly available sources."

The names of Russian businessmen and industrialists matched a list of 96 Russian billionaires, which was compiled by Forbes magazine last year. Each of them is believed to have assets totalling to at least USD 1 billion or more.(ANI)