US announces new Russia sanctions over Ukraine invasion

By Jarrett Renshaw and Daphne Psaledakis

BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and its allies stepped up pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, as Washington imposed new sanctions on dozens of Russian defense companies, hundreds of members of parliament and the chief executive of the largest bank. of the country.

The US Treasury Department has also issued guidelines on its website warning that gold-related transactions involving Russia may be subject to sanctions by US authorities, a move aimed at deterring Russia from evading existing sanctions.

“Our aim here is to methodically remove the benefits and privileges Russia once enjoyed as a participant in the international economic order,” said a senior government official, provided they are not named.

The United States and its allies have imposed several sanctions, including those against the country’s biggest backers and President Vladimir Putin, since Russian forces invaded Ukraine a month ago in the biggest attack on a European state since World War II.

Moscow calls the attack a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbor.

The new sanctions targets include more than 40 defense companies, including the state-owned Tactical Missiles Corp. and 28 companies with which it is affiliated, as well as its general manager, the Treasury said in a statement.

The Treasury Department said Washington’s action is in line with similar measures taken by the EU, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The Treasury Department said the conglomerate, which Britain has already sanctioned, produces naval systems and weapons that Russia is using against Ukraine, including the Kh-31, a high-speed guided missile that has been widely used in the Moscow offensive.

Other companies on the new list include manufacturers of ammunition for the Russian military, civilian and military helicopters, and drones that the Treasury said were originally designed for surveillance but have been “repurposed” and used to attack Ukrainian forces.

The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 328 members of the State Duma, the Russian parliament, and Herman Gref, the head of Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, who the Treasury said was a close Putin associate.

The United States said last month that US banks must sever their correspondent banking relationships — allowing banks to make payments among themselves and move money around the world — with Sberbank, but have not frozen its assets.

The United States on Thursday also targeted 17 board members of Sovcombank, which is also under US sanctions, and Gennady Timchenko, a longtime ally of Putin, his companies and relatives.

The official said the United States warned Putin that his invading Ukraine would have swift and serious consequences and that they have lived up to that threat. The official noted that the country is facing punitive inflation and economic pain that will push it out of the top 20 economies in the world.

“Russia will soon face an acute shortage of ideas, talent and technology to compete in the 21st century, and Putin will be left with a strategic failure of his own making,” the official said.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier this week that the United States would consult with allies about Russia’s inclusion in the G20 group of the world’s largest economies.

The sanctions and their economic fallout could facilitate that discussion by effectively disabling Moscow for its shrinking economy.