US announces hundreds of new sanctions in push to isolate Russia

WASHINGTON: The United States has announced hundreds of new sanctions targeting entities and individuals across the globe, seeking to further isolate Russia as its war on Ukraine grinds on.

The US Departments of State and the Treasury said on Tuesday that they had designated more than 250 individuals and entities in countries including Turkey, China, and the United Arab Emirates, cracking down on sanctions evasion, weapons procurement, and sectors such as energy and mining.

“The Kremlin has steadily turned Russia into a wartime economy, but Putin’s war machine cannot survive on domestic production alone,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“Our sanctions today continue to tighten the vise on willing third-country suppliers and networks providing Russia the inputs it desperately needs to ramp up and sustain its military-industrial base.”

The US Treasury said that among those targeted by the recent round of sanctions are those involved in weapons procurement for Russia, including four entities and nine people in China, Russia, Hong Kong and Pakistan.

The sanctions also target those with connections to Russia’s energy sector, a crucial source of revenue for the Kremlin. The sanctions include companies working to develop a large natural gas processing facility in northwestern Russia that would be operated by Gazprom.

The announcement came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington, DC in an effort to secure further military aid from the US, where conservative lawmakers have called continued US support into question.

Assistance for Ukraine, which is fighting to eject Russian forces from its territory, has faced mounting opposition in the US and Europe, after a much-anticipated counteroffensive failed to produce substantial gains and the war continues with no end in sight.

Russian officials have expressed confidence that they can outlast Western support for Ukraine, while Ukrainian officials have argued that continued assistance is a necessity and brings benefits to its security partners.

Courtesy: aljazeera