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New US sanctions hit Russian banks and elites; The EU list covers the sectors of finance, energy and transport

Washington: In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States, the European Union of 27 countries and other Western allies announced a round of punitive measures against major Russian banks and companies and imposed export controls aimed at starving the country’s industries and military of semiconductors and other high-tech products.

From the United States to Western Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia, countries have lined up to denounce the Kremlin as the outbreak of fighting raised concerns about what Europe would look like next. The invasion initially led to falling stocks and soaring oil prices amid fears of rising food and fuel costs.

The latest round of sanctions was announced Thursday against Russia deliberately sparing the energy sector to avoid harming Western allies, but officials say they are leaving room for escalation.

Washington said the sanctions would be harsh and have a lasting impact on the Russian economy, although they have tried to “ease” costs for American and European consumers, who are already facing rising oil prices.

Meanwhile, countries began taking steps to isolate Moscow in the hope of forcing it to pay a price so high that it would change course.

US President Joe Biden has, for now, delayed the imposition of some of the toughest sanctions, including excluding Russia from the SWIFT payment system, which allows money to be transferred from bank to bank worldwide. The Ukrainian president has called for Russia to be expelled from the SWIFT system, but the United States has expressed concern about the potential damage to European economies.

Sanctions target

Here are the most important actions:

The Treasury added five other Russian banks to the sanctions list including the country’s two largest banks, both government-owned, though each faced penalties of varying severity.

Sberbank, which owns about a third of all bank assets in Russia, will be prevented from conducting transactions through the US financial system, through what is known as the Correspondent Account or Payments Account Sanctions List (CAPTA).

But VTB and three other banks were hit with full embargo sanctions, meaning all US-owned assets would be frozen.

Asked to explain the rationale behind the different treatment, a senior administration told reporters that the decision was partly due to the fact that VTB “has assets in the United States that we wanted to freeze” which the Kremlin has denied.

On top of the previously announced measures, the official said, “The 10 largest Russian financial institutions account for nearly 80 percent of Russia’s banking sector and the value of assets is now subject to US restrictions.”

However, transactions related to energy, agriculture or medical goods are exempt from the financial ban.

In addition, banks and major government companies, including Gazprom’s oil and natural gas units, have been cut off from western credit markets, joining the central government’s debt moratorium announced earlier this week.

The Western Allies banned the export of key high-tech goods intended to stifle the capabilities of the Russian military.

The ban targets the defense and aerospace sectors and includes semiconductors, computers, communications, information security equipment, lasers and sensors.

Washington said the blockade “will cut off Russia’s access to vital technological inputs, harm key sectors of its industrial base, and undermine its strategic ambitions.”

The United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand have all cooperated on the ban, with more expected to join.

Washington has added to the list of Russian oligarchs in government and finance, whom officials say “Putin relies on his wealth and power.”

Any US assets of officials, including Sberbank and VTB executives, will be frozen. Sanctions extend to their family members as well, to prevent the transfer of resources to them.

Isolation of Russian industry

US Senator Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, said there was agreement that Congress “stands ready to provide any additional resources required” because the United States supports the Ukrainian military and supports the Ukrainian resistance. More funding from Congress may be needed.

Several lawmakers pressed for the toughest possible sanctions on Russia to stop the invasion. The senator said there’s an acknowledgment that “we can keep building” on those Biden has already announced.

EU leaders convened an emergency summit and agreed on sanctions covering, among other things, the financial, energy, transport and various Russian personnel sectors. The leaders said in a statement that the measures would have “serious and dangerous consequences” for Russia.

Details won’t be available until Friday at the earliest.

“We want to cut off Russian industry from the technologies that are badly needed today to build the future,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“It’s about Russia’s leadership and ruthlessness in finance and the economy,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (center) and EU leaders gather during a round table at the EU Extraordinary Summit on Ukraine in Brussels on February 24, 2022 (Reuters)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced fiscal and export controls. In addition, Britain will also ban the Russian airline, Aeroflot, from landing at British airports.

Johnson described the attack on Ukraine as “heinous and barbaric” and said of Putin: “Now we see it for what it is – a bloodstained aggressor who believes in imperial conquest.”

Canada has imposed sanctions targeting 58 people and entities, including members of the Russian elite and their families, the Wagner paramilitary group and major Russian banks. The punitive measures, announced after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended a virtual meeting of the G7, will also cover members of Russia’s Security Council, including key cabinet ministers.

In the days before the attack, Germany suspended approval of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.

With Stoltenberg and Johnson, von der Leyen described the invasion as a “barbaric” attack on an independent state that threatened “the stability of Europe and the entire international peace system”.

The new US sanctions have also targeted military and financial institutions in Belarus, Ukraine’s neighbor to the north. Russia uses Belarus as a springboard for troop movements into Ukraine.

Separately, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution on Friday condemning Russia and calling for the immediate withdrawal of all its forces. But Moscow will almost certainly veto it.

Highlighting the widening rift in great-power relations, China stood alone in not condemning the attack and instead accused the United States and its allies of exacerbating the crisis.

In an apparent defense of Moscow, China “called on the parties to respect the legitimate security concerns of others.”

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that “all parties should work for peace rather than escalating tension or exaggerating the possibility of war” – language that China has consistently used to criticize the West in the crisis.

China went further and agreed to wheat imports from Russia, a move that could reduce the impact of Western sanctions. Russia, one of the largest producers of wheat, will be at risk if foreign markets are closed.

The potential ramifications extended far beyond economics and geopolitics. The director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expressed concern that the crisis will distract the world more from helping the world’s least immunized continent fight COVID-19.

In New York City, an artist displays “Stand with Ukraine” and the country’s flag on the wall of the United Nations Headquarters. The artist, David Forsey, says he decided to do it because he was “a caring person who doesn’t want to be surrounded by nuclear weapons.”

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