U.S. Slaps New Sanctions On Russian Flagship LNG Project

The United States on Thursday announced new sanctions on two vessels and two entities connected to Russia's previously sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project, in an effort to block Russian liquefied natural gas exports from the Arctic, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"In response to Russia’s continued war of aggression against Ukraine, the United States is imposing further costs on those supporting Russia’s war effort and attempting to expand Russia's global energy leverage," State Department's spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

The move is a yet another blow to the Kremlin as it spent months developing what is believed to be a shadow fleet of tankers for natural gas in a similar way it did for transporting crude oil and products. With the latets decision, vessels Mulan and New Energy have been added to the U.S. sanctioned list, following 7 other vessels first placed under sanctions a few weeks ago. India-based companies Gotik Shipping Co. and Plio Energy Cargo Shipping Opc were also sanctioned, according to the State Department.

"The U.S. government will continue to answer attempts to operationalize the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project or otherwise expand Russia’s energy capabilities with a swift response.  Working alongside our G7 partners and other allies, we will remain steadfast in countering Russia’s exploitation of its energy resources for political gain," Miller noted.