Joe Biden on Friday announced the largest salvo of American sanctions since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began two years ago, with more likely to follow. He also called on Congress to release aid to Ukraine.
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“History is watching us. “The clock is ticking,” said the American president during a speech at the White House.
“We cannot turn our backs on Ukraine now,” he warned, emphasizing that Vladimir Putin “is counting on it.”
$60 billion in military aid is effectively blocked in Congress due to opposition from Donald Trump, who is using his influence with Republican elected officials to defeat the bill.
Earlier Friday, the Biden administration unveiled the largest salvo of sanctions imposed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, and also in response to the death of its opponent Alexei Navalny.
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And this is “just the beginning,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council: “You can expect further action from the administration to hold the Kremlin accountable for Navalny’s death.”
The Treasury and State Departments have targeted more than 500 individuals and entities in 11 and 26 countries, respectively (including China and Germany), blocking their assets in the United States and restricting their visa access.
These include three Russian officials responsible for their involvement in the death of Alexei Navalny, the Foreign Ministry said.
Separately, the Commerce Department has added 93 companies to its blacklist.
This brings the number of companies against which American sanctions have been imposed since the start of the war to over 4,000.
Avoid sanctions
“If Putin does not pay the price for the death and destruction he spreads, he will continue,” Joe Biden warned earlier in the day.
The aim of these sanctions is to limit the financial resources available to the Russian government to finance the war against Ukraine that began just two years ago, on February 24, 2022.
“We are taking steps to further reduce revenue from the Russian energy sector, and I have asked my teams to strengthen support for civil society, independent media and all those fighting for democracy around the world,” Joe Biden wrote again.
The long list includes technology companies in the fields of semiconductors, optics, drones and information systems, as well as even an institute for applied mathematics.
But also the Russian Mir payment system, the development of which “allowed Russia to build a financial infrastructure that allows it to evade sanctions and restore severed connections to the international financial system,” according to the US Treasury Department.
Mir cards – a term that means “world” and “peace” in Russian – were developed in 2015 in the face of Western sanctions following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and allow Russians to make payments and withdraw money in some foreign countries.
“Future of the Russian People”
Washington says it is targeting “individuals outside Russia who facilitate, orchestrate, participate in or otherwise support the transfer of critical technologies and equipment to the Russian military-industrial base,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
And warns that sanctions will continue to be imposed “against individuals, wherever they are, who allow Russia to reconnect to global financial markets through illicit channels.”
Despite the large number of Western sanctions, Russia recorded GDP growth of 3.6% in 2023 thanks to orders for ammunition and weapons.
For American Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Vladimir Putin has “burdened the present and the future of the Russian people” and “the Kremlin is deciding to reorient its economy to produce weapons to kill its neighbors as quickly as possible, at a cost .” the economic future of its own population.
Sanctions and announcements have multiplied in Western countries as the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine approaches.
The EU countries therefore agreed on a 13th package of sanctions, while the United Kingdom took measures against more than 50 personalities and companies and announced new missile deliveries to the Ukrainians.
French President Emmanuel Macron is organizing a meeting in Paris on Monday in support of Ukraine with several heads of state and government or their ministerial representatives.