US President Joe Biden on Friday announced Washington would issue more than 500 new sanctions targeting Russia as the United States seeks to increase pressure on Moscow to mark the second anniversary of its war in Ukraine.
The United States will also impose new export restrictions on nearly 100 entities for providing support to Russia and take action to further reduce Russia’s energy revenues, Biden said in a statement.
The measures seek to hold Russia to account over the war and the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Biden said, as Washington looks to continue to support Ukraine even as it faces acute shortages of ammunition and US military aid has been delayed for months in Congress.
Biden says ‘Putin and his thugs’ caused Navalny’s death
Biden says ‘Putin and his thugs’ caused Navalny’s death
“They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home,” Biden said of the sanctions.
Friday’s measures will target individuals connected to Navalny’s imprisonment as well as Russia’s financial sector, defence industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across multiple continents, he said.
The sanctions are the latest of thousands of targets announced by the United States and its allies following Russia’s February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine, which has killed tens of thousands and destroyed cities.
“Two years into this war, the people of Ukraine continue to fight with tremendous courage. But they are running out of ammunition. Ukraine needs more supplies from the United States to hold the line against Russia’s relentless attacks, which are enabled by arms and ammunition from Iran and North Korea,” Biden said.
“That’s why the House of Representatives must pass the bipartisan national security supplemental bill, before it’s too late.”
The Kremlin did not respond to the White House’s latest sanctions, but did significantly expand a list of European Union officials and politicians banned from entering Russia in response to the latest round of sanctions by the bloc.
EU member states approved a 13th package of Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, banning nearly 200 entities and individuals accused of helping Moscow procure weapons or of involvement in kidnapping Ukrainian children, something Moscow denies.
“The European Union is continuing its fruitless attempts to put pressure on Russia through unilateral restrictive measures,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
‘Everything is getting worse’: fatigue marks Ukraine war anniversary
‘Everything is getting worse’: fatigue marks Ukraine war anniversary
“In response to these unfriendly actions, the Russian side has significantly expanded the list of representatives of European institutions and EU member states, who … are prohibited from entering the territory of our state.”
It said the stop list included representatives of law enforcement agencies and commercial organisations who provided military assistance to Ukraine, representatives of European institutions involved in the prosecution of Russian officials, and those who gathered material to support the idea of confiscating Russian state assets.
“The Russian retaliatory ‘stop list’ also includes representatives of the Council of Europe, members of the legislative assemblies of European Union countries, members of the OSCE PA (Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) and the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe), who systematically make aggressive statements against Russia,” the statement said.