New Sanctions

From USA Today:

"U.S. imposes new sanctions on Russia"

President Obama announced Monday that the United States is levying a new round of sanctions against Russia in response to that country's actions in Ukraine, striking against individuals and companies close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Seven Russian government officials, including two members of Putin's inner circle, will be subject to an asset freeze and a U.S. visa ban, and 17 companies linked to Putin's inner circle will be subject to an asset freeze, according to a statement by White House press secretary Jay Carney. "The goal here is not to go after Mr. Putin personally," Obama said in Manila on Monday during a new conference. "The goal is to change his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging in could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over the long haul." Igor Sechin, the president of the state-owned oil company Rosneft, and Sergei Chemezov, the head of the state-owned energy giant Gazprom, are among those with the highest profile being hit by the new sanctions, according to the Treasury Department. Other individuals hit by the sanctions include Oleg Belavantsev, Russia's presidential envoy to Crimea; Dmitry Kozak, a deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation; Evgeniy Murov, director of Russia's Federal Protective Service; Aleksei Pushkov, deputy of the state Duma; and Vyacheslav Volodin, first deputy chief of staff to Putin. The White House said it expects the European Union to announce its own new sanctions against Russia later Monday. The Department of Commerce is imposing additional restrictions on 13 of those companies by issuing a license requirement "with a presumption of denial for the export, re-export or other foreign transfer of U.S.-origin items to the companies." Commerce and the State Department also announced a tightened policy to deny export license applications for any high-technology items that could contribute to Russia's military capabilities. Those departments also will revoke any existing export licenses that meet these conditions. Among the entities being hit by the new licensing restrictions are Stroytransgaz Holding, located in Cyprus; Volga Group, located in Luxembourg and Russia; and Aquanika, Avia Group LLC, Avia Group Nord LLC, CJSC Zest, Sakhatrans LLC, Stroygazmontazh, Stroytransgaz Group, Stroytransgaz LLC, Stroytransgaz-M LLC, Stroytransgaz OJSC, and Transoil, all located in Russia.

In Washington, Democratic lawmakers welcomed the move, while GOP senators said that Obama didn't go far enough. "The administration's tepid, incremental sanctions are insufficient given Russia's continued occupation of Crimea and ongoing actions to fuel unrest in eastern Ukraine," said New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Putin will not be deterred until the U.S. takes swift action to impose sanctions now on Russia's financial sector – and authorizes more severe sanctions, such as on Russia's energy sector, that would go into effect should Putin take additional aggressive actions against Ukraine. The U.S. should also provide additional support to the Ukrainian military." Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. and a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, called the sanctions an "important step" but said ultimately Obama will have to hit key Russian business sectors for Putin to feel real pain. "Regrettably, it will likely be necessary to go further and sanction whole sectors of the Russian economy – their banking, mining, energy and arms industries among others," Schiff said.

^ While sanctions can be effective sometimes I don't see these new Russian ones as doing much to change things on the ground in the Ukraine. ^

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/28/obama-russia-sanctions/8371225/