United States announced this Friday the imposition of sanctions on the president of Russia, Vladimir Putinand the foreign minister, Sergey Lavrovthus following the steps previously taken by the European Union.
Thus, the White House spokeswoman, Jen Psakiassured at a press conference that Washington “will join them (European Union) to sanction President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov, and members of Russia’s national security team.”
“In accordance with the decision of our European allies, the United States will join them in sanctioning President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov and members of Russia’s national security team,” the House press secretary explained. White.
In addition, the United States has imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest financial institutions –Sberbank and VTB–which together own more than half of the assets of the Russian banking system, more than 665,000 million euros in total, according to Psaki.
Similarly, US investors they will not be able to finance the debt or the capital of 13 of the most important Russian state companieswhich together accumulate assets for a value of almost 1,330 million euros.
The United States has also imposed sanctions on the executives of these state-owned companies, as well as “other Russian elites” who are “accomplices of the kleptocracy of Putin and his relatives“.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki explained that economic sanctions are “only part” of the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and that they have been applied “intentionally” to generate “a severe impact” in the Russian economy, trying to minimize the cost for the United States and its allies.
“We are also introducing today an unprecedented and extensive set of export restrictions developed in close coordination with the European Union, Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan“, has explained.
The intention of the United States and its partners is to cut “more than half” of the supply of advanced semiconductors that Russia receives, as well as other “fundamental technologies” that the country, led by Vladimir Putin, needs to “diversify and modernize its economy”.
“These new measures include extensive restrictions on Russian military end users to undermine Putin’s military capabilities (…) mainly aimed at the defense, aerospace and maritime sectors,” the spokeswoman said.
Questioned for the reason why the president of the United States, Joe Biden, did not include the Russian authorities in his battery of sanctions announced this Thursday, the White House spokeswoman has pointed out that these measures have been “under consideration and on the table for some time“, according to CNN.
The Russian president will thus become the highest-profile target in the US effort to impose costs on the Russian economy and on the president’s own inner circle in response to the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory.
Prior to this announcement, the European Union and the United Kingdom had already announced a series of sanctions against both Putin and Lavrov.
350 million military aid package to Ukraine
The president of United States, Joe Bidenapproved this Friday the disbursement of up to 350 million dollars in new military aid to Ukraine in full invasion by Russia, as announced by the White House.
In a memo, Biden authorized the State Department to direct up to $250 million in general aid to Ukraine And till 350 million dedicated to “defense articles and services”including training and military training.
The announcement came after the US president held a 40-minute telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Friday to discuss military aid and sanctions. Although the White House did not reveal the content of the conversation, Zelensky said on Twitter that he had spoken with Biden about “strengthening sanctions,” “concrete defense assistance,” and “an anti-war coalition.”
“Grateful to the United States for the strong support for Ukraine“, added the Ukrainian leader.
Source: Lasexta
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