From Reuters:
“US imposes sweeping sanctions
against Russia, targets over 500 people and entities”
The United States on Friday
issued sweeping sanctions to mark the second anniversary of Russia's invasion
of Ukraine, targeting over 500 people and entities as Washington seeks to
increase pressure on Moscow. The measures targeted the Mir payment system,
Russian financial institutions and its military industrial base, sanctions
evasion, future energy production and other areas. They also included officials
involved in the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Treasury
and State departments said in statements. The action seeks to hold Russia to
account over the war and the death of Navalny, U.S. President Joe Biden said in
a statement, as Washington looks to continue to support Ukraine even as it
faces acute shortages of ammunition and U.S. military aid has been delayed for
months in Congress. "They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for
his aggression abroad and repression at home," Biden said of the
sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury Department
targeted nearly 300 people and entities, while the State Department hit over
250 and the Commerce Department added over 90 companies to the Entity List.
That was an increase from last year, when the U.S. imposed sanctions on over
200 individuals and entities while Commerce targeted 90 companies for the first
anniversary of the war. Friday's sanctions from the United States came in
partnership with those from European Union member nations and Britain. The
actions are the latest of thousands of targets announced by the United States
and its allies following Russia's Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine, which has
killed tens of thousands and destroyed cities.
Russia's export-focused,
$2.2-trillion economy has proven more resilient to the unprecedented sanctions
than either Moscow or the West anticipated. Biden's administration has
exhausted money previously approved for Ukraine, and a request for additional
funds is languishing in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. "We
must sustain our support for Ukraine even as we weaken Russia’s war machine.
It’s critical that Congress steps up to join our allies around the world in
giving Ukraine the means to defend itself and its freedom against Putin’s
barbarous assault," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
PAYMENT SYSTEM The U.S.
Treasury Department said in a statement it imposed sanctions on state-owned
National Payment Card System, the operator of the Mir payment system. Mir
payments cards have become more important since its U.S. rivals suspended
operations in Russia after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into
Ukraine, and their payment cards which were issued in the country stopped
working abroad. "The Government of Russia's proliferation of Mir
has permitted Russia to build out a financial infrastructure that enables
Russian efforts to evade sanctions and reconstitute severed connections to the
international financial system," the Treasury statement said. Also
targeted were over a dozen Russian banks, investment firms, venture capital
funds, and fintech companies, including SPB Bank, which is owned by SPB
Exchange, Russia's second-largest stock exchange which specializes in trading
foreign shares.
FUTURE ENERGY, SANCTIONS
EVASION The United States also targeted Russia's future energy production
and exports, taking further aim at Arctic-2 LNG project in Siberia. In
November, Washington imposed sanctions on a major entity involved in the
development, operation and ownership of the massive project. On Friday,
the State Department targeted Russia's Zvezda shipbuilding company, which it
said is involved in the construction of up to 15 highly specialized LNG tankers
intended for use in support of Arctic-2 LNG exports. U.S. Deputy Treasury
Secretary Wally Adeyemo told reporters that Treasury plans to level additional
sanctions later on Friday over the G7's $60 price cap on Russian oil that he
said will increase the costs for Russia to use an aging "shadow fleet"
of tankers to get oil to markets mainly in India and China. The United States
also imposed sanctions on entities based in China, Turkey, the United Arab
Emirates, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein over the evasion of western sanctions on
Russia and backfilling, including for sending items Moscow relies on for its
weapons systems. The action comes as Washington has increasingly sought to
crack down on Russia's circumvention of its measures. The move also targeted a
network through which Russia, in cooperation with Iran, has acquired and
produced drones.
NAVALNY'S DEATH The State
Department on Friday also targeted three Russian Federal Penitentiary Service
officials it accused of being connected to Navalny's death, including its
deputy director who it said reportedly instructed prison staff to exert harsher
treatment on Navalny. Navalny, 47, fell unconscious and died suddenly
last week after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" penal colony above the
Arctic Circle where he was serving a three-decade sentence, the prison service
said. Biden directly blamed Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The U.S.
actions also targeted individuals involved in what the State Department called
the forcible transfer or deportation of Ukrainian children to camps promoting
indoctrination in Russia, Belarus and Crimea.
^ Sanctions against Russia are
good, but Military and Financial Aid for Ukraine are needed more. ^
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