Manuel Pauls Seneta/AP
US President Joe Biden speaks to reporters in San Francisco on Thursday.
CNN
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The Biden administration imposed new restrictions More than 500 destinations In response to Friday's death of a Russian opposition figure and outspoken Kremlin critic. Alexei Navalny and Moscow's continued invasion of Ukraine.
Prior restrictions Russia's Two-Year War in Ukraine It would mark the latest move by the administration to impose sanctions against Russia amid heightened tensions between the two countries. Friday's announcement was the largest single-day sanctions since Putin launched his war against Ukraine two years ago, and is part of the administration's ongoing efforts to limit the Kremlin's revenue and curb Moscow's ability to source raw materials for its war.
In addition to the sanctions imposed by the US Treasury and State Departments, the administration announced trade restrictions against more than 90 companies through the Commerce Department.
“These sanctions will target individuals associated with Navalny's imprisonment as well as Russia's financial sector, defense industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders on several continents,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday. “They will ensure that Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home.”
The United States, along with other Western governments, has imposed a series of sanctions against Russia in recent years, but Russia has adapted to them. Putin is happy about Russia's resistance to international sanctions, which take time to take effect.
U.S. officials have acknowledged the importance of adjusting Western sanctions to keep up the pressure — from increasing enforcement of price ceilings on Russian oil to targeting companies and financial institutions that help Russia evade sanctions — and are confident the Kremlin's efforts in the long run. Successfully transform its economy and trade can fail.
Biden The sanctions were teased on Thursday, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin was “responsible” for Navalny's death. The comments came shortly after he met Navalny's widow and daughter in San Francisco.
At a fundraiser in San Francisco, Biden repeatedly berated Putin, calling him “a crazy SOB,” according to pool reporters traveling with the president. In response, the Kremlin said Biden's comments were a “huge insult” to the United States.
Earlier this week, US National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan described the package as “another U-turn” after Western sanctions on Moscow were lifted since the start of the Ukraine war. While those sanctions have hampered Russia's economy, they have not deterred Putin from continuing the invasion.
U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNN on a call with reporters on Thursday that Friday's package explained the U.S.'s increased focus on sanctioning companies in third-party countries that provide goods and vital supplies to Russia's war effort.
“We follow the main nodes of the Russian economy, which buy these goods from companies in third countries,” he said. “So our strategy is to make it harder to use the supply chain to build more and more of the weapons Russia needs. And we're going to continue to do that because our goal is to use tools in the Treasury and the trade sector to grind the gears of Russia's military industrial complex.
“Russia is mortgaging their future to pay for the war they want in their present,” Adeyemo later said: “Putin thinks he can outmaneuver us and outflank us by turning inward, but Russia's wartime transition allows us to target densely. In a new and efficient way, concentrated. manufacturing.With such vertical integration we can attack the entire supply chain.
In all, the Treasury Department on Friday approved hundreds of companies involved in Russia's military-industrial complex, 26 third-country companies that help evade Russian sanctions and the operator of the Mir National Payment System — which the U.S. government describes as a “big coke.” ” in Russia's Financial Infrastructure. Some of the third-party companies sanctioned on Friday include companies in China, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates.
“This solemn anniversary and the death of Alexei Navalny in Russian custody are stark and tragic reminders of Putin's shameful disregard for human life, from Ukrainians suffering the costs of his unprovoked war, to people daring to expose the corruption fueling his rule across Russia.” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
In addition to Treasury's actions, the U.S. State Department on Friday imposed sanctions against those who help Russia support its energy sector, wage its war against Ukraine, and evade sanctions.
There were American officials Working on a new set of obstacles Russia preceded Navalny's death and accompanied them after the opposition leader's death, according to a senior US official who said US officials were coordinating with European partners on the new package.
Both the European Union and the United Kingdom are expected to announce their own sanctions ahead of the two-year anniversary of Russia's invasion.
