On Thursday, in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the G7 (the United States (US), Canada, France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom), the US announced a new wave of sanctions against Russian financial institutions and influential individuals, and completely prohibited investment in Russia.
In a statement, the White House vowed to levy “severe and immediate economic costs” on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government over their continued military assault on Ukraine. Under the new set of sanctions, the US and its allies have imposed “full blocking” sanctions, which completely cut off Russia’s Sberbank and Alfa-Bank from the US financial system. Sberbank is a major Russian state-owned financial institution that holds one-third of the country’s overall banking sector’s assets, while Alfa-Bank is Russia’s largest private bank. According to the US Treasury, the sanctions target around 48 subsidiaries of both the banks, which are present across Russia and are also located in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Cyprus, and the Netherlands.
We are implementing sanctions on two of the largest Russian financial institutions, designating the adult children of President Putin, the wife and adult child of Foreign Minister Lavrov, and 21 members of Russia’s National Security Council, including former President Medvedev.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) April 6, 2022
US President Joe Biden also signed an executive order that further restricts investment in Russia and adds to the mass exodus of more than 600 multinational businesses from the Russian domestic market. A senior Biden administration official said that the move severely hampers Moscow’s ability to “diversify and modernise” its economy while also limiting military exports to Russia. The official underscored that Washington’s move to further isolate Russia from the global economy is not “permanent,” adding that the US will alter the rigorousness of its actions based on ground conditions.
Additionally, the US, EU, and the G7 also slammed sanctions on Putin’s daughters, Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova, who respectively hold prominent positions in the defence industry and the Russian government. The sanctions also target the family members of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
The EU’s position has been clear: we will continue to advance sanctions as long as the Russian aggression against Ukraine continues.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) April 5, 2022
We propose today more hard hitting sanctions to stop the reckless inhuman behaviour of Russian troops and Kremlin's decision makers. pic.twitter.com/xAI1rk6G2G
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made it clear that the EU is ready to impose more sanctions on Russia, saying, “Now we have to look into oil and we will have to look into the revenues that Russia gets from fossil fuels.” EU Council President Charles Michel reiterated von der Leyen’s remarks, adding that sanctions on Russian energy imports need to be implemented “sooner or later.”
Highlighting Europe’s dependency on Russian energy exports, EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, compared the gap between the money the EU has paid to Putin in energy fees and to Ukraine in aid. Borrell stated that the bloc has paid $38.17 billion to Putin since the war started in Ukraine. In contrast, they paid over $1 billion to Kyiv.
🔻
— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) April 7, 2022
💬#Antonov: non-stop sanctions demonstrate the true intention of the 🇺🇸. Bright example is the restrictions against @sberbank and @alfabank, where most Russians keep their savings. This is a direct strike on the population of 🇷🇺, ordinary citizens.
🔻https://t.co/zzBtcRwzpj pic.twitter.com/ZuHxxgBbcW
However, in a blow to the EU’s efforts to roll out unified sanctions, German Minister of Finance Christian Lindner said yesterday that it is impossible for Berlin to consider an immediate embargo on all Russian gas imports. He lamented, “If I followed my heart, there would be an immediate embargo on everything” before adding that the social and economic impact would be too severe. “We can’t be responsible for that,” he said.
In response to Biden’s announcement, Russia’s Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, said, “By imposing new sanctions, Washington continues to damage the global economy,” adding that the Biden administration’s sanctions on Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, where most Russians keep their savings, constitute “direct attack on the Russian population, ordinary citizens.”