Washington: white House Targeted sanctions announced on Wednesday Russiatop public and private banks and the two daughters of Vladimir PutinThe invasion of Ukraine put pressure on the country’s economy and its elite.
The new sanctions targeted Putin’s ex-wife, Lyudmila Shkrebneva, along with two adult daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova.
Along with the new sanctions were the wife and daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and members of Russia’s Security Council, including former President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
“These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people. Some of them are responsible for providing the assistance needed to ease Putin’s war on Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.
A senior US official told reporters, referring to the two daughters, “We believe that many of Putin’s assets are hidden with family members and that is why we are targeting him.”
The White House also announced “complete blocking” sanctions on Russia’s largest public and private financial institutions, Sberbank And alpha bankAnd added that all new US investments in Russia are now banned.
And it said new sanctions would be announced on Thursday on major Russian state enterprises aimed at disrupting their ability to move trade and money through the global financial system.
President Joe Biden has linked the escalation of sanctions directly to evidence suggesting that the Russian military deliberately killed civilians in Buka, a city outside Kyiv.
“I have made it clear that Russia will pay a serious and immediate price for its atrocities in Bucha,” Biden tweeted.
– Secure energy transactions –
The new sanctions were being coordinated with US allies in Europe and elsewhere, aimed at further damaging the Russian economy in order to pressure Putin to stop the war.
“Today, together with G7 allies and partners, we are accelerating the most severe restrictions ever imposed on a major economy,” the official said on the basis of anonymity.
The sanctions on the two banks expanded on an earlier measure that blocked some capital transactions with them.
Now any assets of the bank that are in or fall under US jurisdiction will be frozen, and people and companies under US jurisdiction will be banned from doing business with them.
This could have a significant impact on Sberbank, which has about a third of the assets in the Russian banking industry.
However, US sanctions continued to deter Russia’s energy sector, which still collects millions of dollars a day for its natural gas from European customers.
The White House said energy transactions would still be allowed between the two banks.
In a parallel action on Wednesday, the US Justice Department blamed Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev for violating sanctions.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Russian billionaire was a source of funding for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea and supporting pro-Moscow separatists in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.
“After being sanctioned by the United States, Malofayev attempted to evade sanctions by using co-conspirators to covertly acquire and run media outlets across Europe,” Garland told reporters.
FBI official Michael Driscoll said, “Malofeyev played a major role in supporting Russia’s 2014 invasion of eastern Ukraine, continued to run a pro-Putin propaganda network, and most recently called Russia’s 2022 military invasion of Ukraine”. described as a ‘holy war’.”
The new sanctions targeted Putin’s ex-wife, Lyudmila Shkrebneva, along with two adult daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova.
Along with the new sanctions were the wife and daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and members of Russia’s Security Council, including former President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
“These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people. Some of them are responsible for providing the assistance needed to ease Putin’s war on Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.
A senior US official told reporters, referring to the two daughters, “We believe that many of Putin’s assets are hidden with family members and that is why we are targeting him.”
The White House also announced “complete blocking” sanctions on Russia’s largest public and private financial institutions, Sberbank And alpha bankAnd added that all new US investments in Russia are now banned.
And it said new sanctions would be announced on Thursday on major Russian state enterprises aimed at disrupting their ability to move trade and money through the global financial system.
President Joe Biden has linked the escalation of sanctions directly to evidence suggesting that the Russian military deliberately killed civilians in Buka, a city outside Kyiv.
“I have made it clear that Russia will pay a serious and immediate price for its atrocities in Bucha,” Biden tweeted.
– Secure energy transactions –
The new sanctions were being coordinated with US allies in Europe and elsewhere, aimed at further damaging the Russian economy in order to pressure Putin to stop the war.
“Today, together with G7 allies and partners, we are accelerating the most severe restrictions ever imposed on a major economy,” the official said on the basis of anonymity.
The sanctions on the two banks expanded on an earlier measure that blocked some capital transactions with them.
Now any assets of the bank that are in or fall under US jurisdiction will be frozen, and people and companies under US jurisdiction will be banned from doing business with them.
This could have a significant impact on Sberbank, which has about a third of the assets in the Russian banking industry.
However, US sanctions continued to deter Russia’s energy sector, which still collects millions of dollars a day for its natural gas from European customers.
The White House said energy transactions would still be allowed between the two banks.
In a parallel action on Wednesday, the US Justice Department blamed Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev for violating sanctions.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Russian billionaire was a source of funding for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea and supporting pro-Moscow separatists in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.
“After being sanctioned by the United States, Malofayev attempted to evade sanctions by using co-conspirators to covertly acquire and run media outlets across Europe,” Garland told reporters.
FBI official Michael Driscoll said, “Malofeyev played a major role in supporting Russia’s 2014 invasion of eastern Ukraine, continued to run a pro-Putin propaganda network, and most recently called Russia’s 2022 military invasion of Ukraine”. described as a ‘holy war’.”