March 24, 2022 10:15 PM GMT+7
A woman rides a bicycle past a part of the Kremlin wall where
the Russian national flag is projected, during celebrations of Russia Day in
Moscow, Russia, June 12, 2020. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - The
United States and its allies on Thursday ramped up pressure on Moscow over its
invasion of Ukraine, as Washington imposed fresh sanctions on dozens of Russian
defense companies, hundreds of members of its parliament and the chief
executive of the country's largest bank.
The U.S. Treasury Department also issued
guidance on its website warning that gold-related transactions involving Russia
may be sanctionable by U.S. authorities, a move aimed at stopping Russia from
evading existing sanctions.
"Our purpose here is to methodically
remove the benefits and privileges Russia once enjoyed as a participant in the
international economic order," a senior administration official said,
speaking on condition they not be named.
The United States and its allies have imposed several rounds of
sanctions, including targeting the country's largest lenders and President
Vladimir Putin, since Russian forces invaded Ukraine a month ago in the biggest
assault on a European state since World War Two. read more
Moscow calls the assault a "special
operation" to disarm and "denazify" its neighbor.
Among the new sanctions targets are more than
40 defense companies, including state-owned Tactical Missiles Corp and 28 firms
to which it is linked, as well as its general director, the Treasury said in a
statement.
The Treasury said Washington's action aligned
with similar measures taken by the EU, the United Kingdom and Canada.
The Treasury said the conglomerate, which
Britain has already hit with sanctions, produces naval systems and weapons that
Russia is using against Ukraine, including the Kh-31, a high-speed airborne
guided missile that has been employed extensively in Moscow’s offensive.
Other firms on the new list include
manufacturers of ammunition for the Russian military, civilian and military
helicopters, and drones that the Treasury said originally were designed for
surveillance but have been "repurposed" and used to attack Ukrainian
forces.
The Treasury also slapped sanctions on 328 members of the Duma,
Russia's parliament, and Herman Gref, the head of Russia's largest lender,
Sberbank (SBER.MM), who the
Treasury said was a close Putin associate.
The United States said last month that U.S. banks must sever
their correspondent banking ties - which allow banks to make payments between
one another and move money around the globe - with Sberbank, but did not freeze
its assets. read more
The United States on Thursday also targeted
17 board members of Sovcombank, which is also under U.S. sanctions, and Gennady
Timchenko, a longtime ally of Putin, his companies and family members.
The official said the United States warned
Putin that it would face swift and severe consequences if he invaded Ukraine
and they have delivered on that threat. The official noted that the country is
facing punishing inflation and economic pain that will push it out of the
world’s top 20 economies.
“Russia will soon face an acute shortage of
ideas, talent and technology to compete in the 21st century, and Putin will be
left with a strategic failure of his own making,” the official said.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan
said earlier this week the United States would consult with allies about
Russia's inclusion in the G20 group of the world's largest economies.
The sanctions and their economic consequences
could make that discussion easier by effectively making Moscow ineligible
because of its shrinking economy.
Reporting
by Jarrett Renshaw, Daphne Psaledakis, Jeff Mason and Jonathan Landay Editing
by Chizu Nomiyama, Heather Timmons and Jonathan Oatis
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