The US approves new sanctions on banks that continue to finance the Russian war machine

The president of USAJoe Biden, plans to sign this Friday an executive order with secondary sanctions for banks that continue to finance companies that are helping Russia to maintain its war machine in its aggression against Ukraine.

As White House officials explained in a call with reporters, this is a new step to further interrupt material support for the US defense industrial base. Russia and to obstruct the efforts of Russia to increase its military capacity.

Since the beginning of the invasion, USA and its allies have passed countless sanctions that had a significant impact on the ability of Russia to access assets and technology which he needed to build weapons.

But the Kremlin responded by dedicating “considerable time and resources” to find a way to avoid them.

In this way he created front companies with Financial intermediaries“voluntary or involuntary to circumvent restrictions and supply crucial components for the warlike semiconductors”, but also many others such as chemical precursors, bearings and optical systems.

Although Washington assures that many of these front companies have been unmasked, the new executive order is intended to be a new tool to persecute the banks that they are still allowing the companies they finance to send these goods to the industrialized military complex of Russia or continue doing business with Moscow.

As officials explained, the decree offers a “surgical tool” that allows us to go after financial institutions that are carrying out transactions that promote said Russian military capacity and that goes, at the same time, against the aforementioned companies.

From the White House they recalled that sanctions have always pursued two objectives: to deny Russia access to the income he needs for the war and put “sand in the gears” of his war machine Russia and dismantle its supply chain.

Today’s actions pursue the second objective

As explained by the sources, this is the first time that a tool with secondary sanctions has been approved to persecute financial institutions during this conflict, which at the same time seeks “discourage the kind of behavior that is fostering Russia’s ability to build weapons” in his aggression against Ukraine.