President Obama has extended financial sanctions against Russia to include wealthy supporters of Vladimir Putin and a bank close to the Kremlin, in a bid to deter Russian military incursions into eastern and southern Ukraine.
Amid growing pressure for a tougher US response to the crisis, the White House also issued a new executive order authorising a co-ordinated economic blockade with the European Union against key Russian industries if the situation escalates.
White House officials also revealed the Pentagon was providing “non-lethal” assistance to the Ukrainian military .
The additional financial sanctions target 20 new individuals, including eight officials previously identified by the European Union. They extend an initial list announced on Monday to add what the White House calls “Putin’s cronies”.
The previous blacklist of 11 officials shied away from touching top figures or oligarchs.
Most significantly, the new blacklist targets several influential businessmen known to be close to Putin.
Gennady Timchenko, who controls the Gunvor Group, the fourth-largest crude oil trader in the world, has a net worth of $15.3bn and was said by Forbes to be “one of the most powerful people in Russia.”
Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, judo friends of Putin and co-owners of SMP Bank and SGM Group, which provide construction services to state-controlled gas giant Gazprom, were among the elites said to have profited from the Sochi Olympics.
Companies controlled by Arkady Rotenberg won at least $7.4bn worth of contracts related to the Games, Bloomberg reported. He is one of the most influential businessmen in the country, according to Forbes.
The new list also targets Bank Rossiya, which the US claims is the personal bank for senior officials of the Russian Federation.
Among the new Kremlin officials who will face asset freezes are Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s chief of staff, and state Duma chairman Sergei Naryshkin, who has vocally supported Russian intervention in Ukraine. Vladimir Yakunin, the head of state-owned Russian Railways, was also on the list.
All those included will have any US assets frozen and a ban placed on any dealings with US companies, which the White House claims will affect their ability to do business globally.
Several Russian politicians openly mocked earlier White House sanctions against government officials, claiming they did not have any assets that could be hurt by the move and would not deter their policy in Crimea.
But officials in Washington insisted the new steps – together with the threat of co-ordinated action with the EU against Russian industry – were intended to send a signal to deter possible Russian military incursions in eastern and southern Ukraine.
“We are concerned by recent Russian military movements. It would be a significant escalation for Russia to move into southern and eastern Ukraine,” a senior US administration official told reporters. “That is part of the context [of these sanctions]; to send a signal that these key sectors of the Russian economy are in play for sanctions.”
Source: theguardian
