Administration officials studied how the sanctions would affect each of the major banks, including Sberbank and VTB, Russia’s two largest banks. Sberbank owns about a third of the assets in the country’s banking sector, and VTB owns more than 15 percent. Some experts are skeptical that the administration will put these two banks on the SDN list, fearing the consequences for the Russian and global economy. Until US officials are prepared to cut off all Russian banks from FastAn important Belgian money transfer system used by over 11,000 financial institutions around the world.
The Treasury Department has other sanctions lists that incur costs while causing less widespread suffering. For example, he can put the bank on a list that prohibits him from making any transactions with dollars. Many international business transactions are carried out in US dollars, the currency that underpins the global economy.
It is also expected that the Ministry of Finance will add more Russian officials, businessmen and companies to the sanctions list.
By Thursday evening, the national stock market in Russia had fallen by almost 40 percent.
The Department of Commerce is planning restrict the export of certain American technologies to Russia, a tactic the Trump administration has used to thwart Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. The control will hurt the supply chain for some Russian sectors. US officials have said their targets include the defense industry and the oil and gas industry.
European officials are expected to announce sanctions similar to many planned by the United States, as they did this week. However, they are more cautious about imposing the toughest sanctions due to the continent’s active trade with Russia.
While Mr. Biden said he would consider any possible sanctions, US officials are not yet planning a major disruption to Russia’s energy exports, which are the backbone of the country’s economy. Europe relies on products, and rising oil prices around the world will cause higher inflation and more problems for politicians. However, this week Germany announced that it would not certify Nord Stream 2, a new gas pipeline connecting Russia and Western Europe. On Wednesday, Mr. Biden announced sanctions against a subsidiary of Gazprom, a major Russian energy company that built the pipeline and planned to operate it.
“We have been frank, we have been frank with the American people that our measures – the measures that we are taking and are ready to take regarding the Russian Federation – will definitely not be free for the Russian Federation,” Ned Price said on Wednesday State Department representative. “But they won’t be completely free for the rest of the world either.”