US Announces Sanctions on Russian lawmakers, Defense Companies

The Biden administration on Thursday announced new sanctions on more than 400 Russian individuals, including the Duma and its members, additional Russian elites, and the country’s  defense companies that are connected to the war effort in the invasion of Ukraine, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The announcement came as President Biden met with NATO and EU allies, as well as G7 leaders in Brussels to discuss how to respond to the invasion as it stretches into its second month.

"As long as President Putin continues this war, the United States and allies and partners are committed to ensuring the Russian government feels the compounding effects of our current and future economic actions," the White House said in a fact sheet about the latest sanctions.

Thursday’s sanctions includes:

* 328 Duma members and sanctioning the Duma as an entity.

* Herman Gref, the head of Russia’s largest financial institution Sberbank and a Putin advisor since the 1990s.

* Russian elite Gennady Timchenko, his companies and his family members.

* 17 board members of Russian financial institution Sovcombank.

* 48 Large Russian defense state-owned enterprises that are part of Russia’s defense-industrial base and produce weapons that have been used in Russia’s assault against Ukraine’s people, infrastructure, and territory, including Russian Helicopters, Tactical Missiles Corporation, High Precision Systems, NPK Tekhmash OAO, Kronshtadt. We are targeting, and will continue to target, the suppliers of Russia’s war effort and, in turn, their supply chain.

In addition to the new sanctions rolled out by the Biden administration, the U.S. and its European allies rolled out an initiative intended to better enforce existing sanctions on Russia.

“Together, we will not allow sanctions evasion or backfilling. As part of this effort, we will also engage other governments on adopting sanctions similar to those already imposed by the G7 and other partners,” the White House said.

The White House said the G7 and EU will also work to prevent Russia from using its international reserves, including gold, to prop up its economy in the face of sanctions that have crippled Russian financial markets and diminished the value of the ruble.

During his meetings with NATO and the European Council, President Biden and allies “reviewed their ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and Belarus, as well as their readiness to adopt additional measures and to stop any attempts to circumvent sanctions”, the White House said.

Speaking to reporters via teleconference, a senior U.S. administration officials described the latest sanctions as “historic”. 

“Putin himself said these sanctions are delivering a profound blow; they're causing “unprecedented” pressure, in his own words.  And yesterday, Minister Lavrov said no one could have predicted the actions we’d take”, the official reminded.

“And the consequence is that Russia is now looking at a contraction in its economy of 15 percent this year, according to private sector estimates. To put that into perspective, that would be three times as much as the GDP declined after Russia’s debt default in 1998,” the official added.

More than 400 private sector companies have already quit Russia.  And independent observers estimate that over 200,000 people emigrated from Russia just in the past month alone, as the brain drain accelerates.

“Set against the backdrop of export controls that deny cutting-edge technology and its removal from international supply chains, 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.

Russia, he added, “used to be the 11th largest economy in the world before its invasion.“

“If you consider the depreciation of the ruble already and the projected shrinking of its economy, it's now looking at an economy half of the size that it was before this invasion.  So it would fall out of the top 20 economies by ranking,” the official said.

The U.S. in tandem with the EU, Canada and Japan will also look at the effect Putin's war will have on food and energy security.

In addition, the Biden administration on Thursday announced $1 billion in humanitarian relief for Ukrainians affected by the war.

"Many Ukrainian refugees will wish to stay in Europe closer to their homes, but we also will welcome 100,000 Ukrainians to the United States with a focus on reuniting families," Biden said in Brussels.

The White House also announced the U.S. will invest $320 million to bolster democratic resilience and defend human rights in Ukraine and neighboring countries.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.