US Expands ‘Unprecedented Global Sanctions’ on Russia With Over 300 New Targets

The U.S. has imposed new sanctions on Russia “in coordination with the G7 and other international partners.” Among the targets are “the channels Russia uses to acquire critical technology, its future energy extraction capabilities, and Russia’s financial services sector.” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says: “We are also advancing our efforts to cut off Russian attempts to evade sanctions.”

US Imposes New Sanctions on Russia in Coordination With G7, Other International Partners

The U.S. Treasury Department announced Friday that the U.S. is “strengthening the unprecedented global sanctions and other restrictive economic measures” on Russia “in coordination with the G7 and other international partners.” The announcement, titled “With over 300 sanctions, U.S. targets Russia’s circumvention and evasion, military-industrial supply chains, and future energy revenues,” followed a Group of Seven (G7) meeting Friday in Hiroshima, Japan, which President Joe Biden attended.

The announcement explains that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is “implementing new commitments made at the G7 Leaders’ Summit to hold Russia accountable for its war,” elaborating:

The OFAC’s sanctions on 22 individuals and 104 entities, with touchpoints in more than 20 countries or jurisdictions, target those attempting to circumvent or evade sanctions and other economic measures against Russia, the channels Russia uses to acquire critical technology, its future energy extraction capabilities, and Russia’s financial services sector.

“Additionally, OFAC is expanding sanctions authorities to target new sectors of Russia’s economy and sever Russia’s access to new categories of services,” the Treasury continued.

Furthermore, the U.S. Department of State “designated or identified as blocked property almost 200 individuals, entities, vessels, and aircraft” and the U.S. Department of Commerce is “significantly expanding the territorial reach and categories covered by its export controls and adding 71 entities to its Entity List to prevent Russia from accessing goods it needs for the battlefield,” the announcement details.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tweeted Friday following the announcement of the new sanctions: “Today’s actions will further tighten our global coalition’s vise on Putin’s ability to wage his barbaric invasion by denying him military equipment and revenue. We are also advancing our efforts to cut off Russian attempts to evade sanctions.”

Putin Says Sanctions Strengthen Russia’s Unity

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Friday, just hours before the U.S. and other G7 countries announced additional sanctions on Russia, that additional sanctions on his country would only serve to enhance unity within the nation. According to a translation by NBC News, Putin expressed:

We’re seeing just how aggressive the external pressure now being exerted on Russia is, on our entire society. Almost the entire arsenal is directed against us — economic, military, political, informational forces, and the most powerful anti-Russian propaganda is being deployed.

In April, Putin said the policies pursued by Western nations do not always serve the best interests of their own people and will ultimately “backfire on them.” His press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, stated in the same month that sanctions against Russia “will hit the global economy hard,” warning that it “can only lead us down a path towards a global economic crisis.”

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