(Washington) The United States on Wednesday unveiled a new round of sanctions aimed at stifling the Russian war effort in Ukraine, also putting pressure on financial institutions dealing with the Russian economy, just before the G7 Summit.
The measures, which include sanctions affecting more than 300 entities including the Moscow Stock Exchange, target “the remaining supply routes through which (Russia) procures materials and equipment internationally,” the secretary said. at Treasury Janet Yellen.
“We are increasing the risk for financial institutions that deal with the Russian war economy, eliminating opportunities for evasion, and diminishing Russia’s ability to benefit from access to foreign IT technology, equipment, software and services,” she added, quoted in a press release.
Measures denounced as “aggressive” by the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, cited by the state news agency TASS. She assured that Moscow would not remain “unanswered.”
These sanctions taken by the Departments of State and Treasury concern entities located in Russia and countries including China, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
These include the Moscow Exchange and several subsidiaries, aimed at making multi-billion dollar transactions more difficult, as well as entities involved in three liquefied natural gas projects.
As a result, the Moscow Stock Exchange announced that it would suspend transactions in euros and dollars on its foreign exchange market.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States “remains concerned about the scale and scope of exports” from China to Russia that fuel Moscow’s military industry.
At the same time, the Treasury Department has expanded its definition of the Russian “military-industrial” complex.
Currently, foreign banks can be sanctioned for supporting the Russian defense industry. There, the Treasury extends the scope of this so-called secondary sanctions regime to all Russian persons and entities already hit by American sanctions.
This means that foreign financial institutions could be sanctioned if they carry out transactions involving any sanctioned person or targeted Russian banks like VTB or Sberbank. The list of targets thus increases from more than 1000 to around 4500.
The United States believes that goods and services from these foreign networks help Russia support its war effort in Ukraine and evade sanctions.
Efforts to restrict Russia’s ability to support the war in Ukraine have had a “significant impact,” according to a senior U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Global exports to Russia have fallen by nearly $90 billion, and U.S. exports to Russia have virtually ceased for everything except some medical items like vaccines,” he said.
The announcements come on the eve of the G7 Summit in Italy, where US President Joe Biden intends to show Russian President Vladimir Putin that “time is not on his side,” according to a White House spokesperson.
The summit will be an opportunity to announce “new sanctions and export limitation measures”, which will target “entities and networks helping Russia obtain what it needs for its war” against Ukraine, d ‘after the same source.
The G7 members will also discuss “China’s support for the Russian military-industrial complex” and measures aimed at “unlocking the value of frozen Russian sovereign assets”, a subject on which there has not always been consensus among them.
The United States wants to give Ukraine up to $50 billion in loans guaranteed by the interest on 300 billion euros in Russian central bank assets frozen by the European Union and G7 countries.
