US targets Russia with hundreds of sanctions over Ukraine war, Navalny death (updated)

MedMira

23/02/2024 11:34

(Recasts, adds details, updates headline)
    By Daphne Psaledakis and David Brunnstrom
       WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The United States on
Friday imposed extensive sanctions against Russia, targeting
more than 500 people and entities to mark the second anniversary
of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and retaliate for the death of
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
    President Joe Biden said the measures aim to ensure Russian
President Vladimir Putin "pays an even steeper price for his
aggression abroad and repression at home."
    The sanctions targeted Russia's Mir payment system,
financial institutions and its military industrial base,
sanctions evasion, future energy production and other areas.
They also hit prison officials the U.S. says are linked to
Navalny's death.
    Russia's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond
to a request for comment on the sanctions.
    The Biden administration is seeking to continue supporting
Ukraine as the country faces acute shortages of ammunition and
the approval of more U.S. military aid has been delayed for
months in the U.S. Congress. The European Union and Britain also
took action against Russia on Friday. 
    However, Russia's export-focused $2.2-trillion economy has
proved more resilient to two years of unprecedented sanctions
than either Moscow or the West anticipated. Russia invaded
neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 and the two-year war has
seen tens of thousands killed and cities destroyed.
    The U.S. Treasury Department targeted nearly 300 people and
entities on Friday, while the State Department hit over 250
people and entities and the Commerce Department added over 90
companies to the Entity List. 
    The United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on
thousands of Russian targets in the past two years. 
        "We must sustain our support for Ukraine even as we
weaken Russia's war machine. It's critical that Congress steps
up to join our allies around the world in giving Ukraine the
means to defend itself and its freedom against Putin’s barbarous
assault," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
    
    PAYMENT SYSTEM
    The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on state-owned National
Payment Card System, the operator of the Mir payment system. 
    Mir payments cards have become more important since its U.S.
rivals suspended operations in Russia after Moscow sent tens of
thousands of troops into Ukraine, and their payment cards which
were issued in the country stopped working abroad.
    "The Government of Russia's proliferation of Mir has
permitted Russia to build out a financial infrastructure that
enables Russian efforts to evade sanctions and reconstitute
severed connections to the international financial system," the
U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
    It also targeted over a dozen Russian banks, investment
firms, venture capital funds, and fintech companies, including
SPB Bank, which is owned by SPB Exchange, Russia's
second-largest stock exchange which specializes in trading
foreign shares.
    
    FUTURE ENERGY, SANCTIONS EVASION
    The United States targeted Russia's future energy production
and exports, taking further aim at Arctic LNG 2 project in
Siberia. In November, Washington imposed sanctions on a major
entity involved in the development, operation and ownership of
the massive project.
    On Friday, the State Department targeted Russia's Zvezda
shipbuilding company, which it said is involved in the
construction of up to 15 highly specialized LNG tankers intended
for use in support of Arctic LNG 2 exports. 
    U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told reporters
that Treasury plans to level additional sanctions later on
Friday over the G7's $60 price cap on Russian oil. He said the
measures will increase costs for Russia to use an aging fleet of
tankers to get oil to markets mainly in India and China.  
    The United States also imposed sanctions on entities based
in China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and
Liechtenstein over the evasion of Western sanctions on Russia
and backfilling, including for sending items Moscow relies on
for its weapons systems.
    The action comes as Washington has increasingly sought to
crack down on Russia's circumvention of its measures.
    The move also targeted a network through which Russia, in
cooperation with Iran, has acquired and produced drones.
    The Biden administration also imposed new trade restrictions
on 93 entities from Russia, China, Turkey, the United Arab
Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, India and South Korea for supporting
Russia's war effort in Ukraine, according to a federal
government notice posted online on Friday.
    This means companies will be put on a Commerce Department
"Entity List," essentially banning U.S. shipments to them.
    
    NAVALNY'S DEATH
    The State Department on Friday also targeted three Russian
Federal Penitentiary Service officials it accused of being
connected to Navalny's death, including its deputy director who
it said reportedly instructed prison staff to exert harsher
treatment on Navalny.
    Navalny, 47, fell unconscious and died suddenly last week at
the penal colony above the Arctic Circle where he was serving a
three-decade sentence, the prison service said. 
    Biden, who has directly blamed Putin for Navalny's death,
met the opposition leader's widow and daughter in California on
Thursday and called him "a man of incredible courage."
    The U.S. action also targeted people involved in what the
State Department called the forcible transfer or deportation of
Ukrainian children to camps promoting indoctrination in Russia,
Belarus and Crimea. 

 (Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, David Brunnstrom and Timothy
Gardner in Washington, Polina Devitt in London and Mrinmay Dey
in Bengaluru, Editing by William Maclean. Don Durfee and
Alistair Bell)
 ((mrinmay.dey@thomsonreuters.com; +91 7362903319;))