Strengthening coordination with its Western allies while Joe Biden is in Europe, the United States on Thursday announced new financial sanctions targeting Russian politicians, oligarchs and the defense industry, in response to the invasion of the Ukraine.
These measures, which involve in particular a freezing of assets in the United States, concern 328 deputies of the Duma and the institution itself as well as 48 "large public companies" in the defense sector, according to a press release from the House- White.
These are "total blocking sanctions against more than 400 individuals and entities, including the Duma and its members, additional Russian elites and Russian defense companies that fuel Putin's war machine", is -He specifies.
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The sanctions thus target in particular Tactical Missiles Corporation JSC (KTRV), a large Russian defense conglomerate belonging to the State and whose armament is currently deployed in Russia, indicated the Treasury in a separate press release.
"KTRV produces Russian defense equipment, including airborne weapons and weapon systems for the Russian Navy," he said, citing various underwater weapons and radar systems used in submarine fleets. .
Block gold reserves
The leaders of the G7 countries and the European Union have also announced a coordinated reinforcement of their action to prevent the targets of the sanctions from escaping them.
They also want to continue to block the Russian central bank's ability to use international reserves, including gold, to block war financing.
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The United States and its allies "strike at the heart of Russia's ability to fund and carry out its war and atrocities against Ukraine," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in the Treasury statement.
The Duma "continues to support Putin's invasion, to stifle the free flow of information and to undermine the fundamental rights of Russian citizens", she added, urging "Putin's relatives to stop and to condemn this war.
The British government had, a little earlier, announced a new series of sanctions targeting 59 Russian personalities and companies and six Belarusian entities.
