War in Ukraine: What are the new US “catastrophic” sanctions against Russia?

U.S. officials have announced that they are targeting new sanctions Sberbank, Alfa Bank, Russia’s leading bank and private bank, which accounts for almost a third of the country’s total bank assets. They said transactions in the energy sector have been exempted from the ban.

The United States is also under attack Russian President Vladimir Putin’s entourage By imposing sanctions against Two little girls Finally. The wife and daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and members of Russia’s Security Council have also been targeted.

The White House has indicated that Joe Biden will sign the executive order Bans Americans To proceed with “any new investment in Russia” with the aim of further isolating Moscow from the world economy. “I made it clear that Russia would pay immediately The high price for the atrocities he committed in BouchasJoe Biden said on Twitter about the Ukrainian city where several bodies were found after the withdrawal of Russian troops.

“Today, along with our associates and associates, we are announcing a new series Destructive punishments“After the announcements, Sberbank and Alfa Bank announced that the new sanctions would not have a major impact on their operations. .

Isolate Moscow further

The senior executive told reporters that the United States “significantly intensifies” Russia’s financial shock by isolating the country’s largest banks.

“The truth is, the country is immersed in economic and financial and technological isolation,” he said. “At this rate, it will return to the standard of living of the Soviet era in the 1980s.” In order to increase pressure on Vladimir Putin, the United States is attacking “major Russian state institutions” to the detriment of the Kremlin’s ability to finance its war efforts.

The White House said the Treasury Department would release the names of the affected companies on Thursday. Ukrainian officials have accused Russian troops of “massacring” the city on Sunday ButzaAbout forty kilometers north of Kyiv, after the bodies of hundreds of civilians were found on the streets, some of them were tied up and killed in the point-blank range.

Secretary of State Anthony Blingen said the atrocities were deliberate as part of a Russian campaign. Moscow, which claims to have launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, denies targeting civilians, and denies that pictures of executed civilians were “outrageous lies” staged by the West.