The additional sanctions were imposed in coordination with the G7 and the European Union and are designed to impose “serious and immediate financial costs” on Russia for its atrocities in Ukraine, the White House said. “As long as Russia continues its brutal attack on Ukraine, we will remain united with our allies and partners in imposing additional costs on Russia for its actions,” the White House said in a statement. The measures include a ban on all new investment in Russia, increased sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institutions and state-owned enterprises, including Sberbank and Alfa Bank, and sanctions on Russian government officials and members of their families. Those targeted by the sanctions include Putin’s two adult daughters, the wife and daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and members of Russia’s Security Council, including former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. . Actions targeting Sberbank and Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private bank, are freezing assets that touch a US financial institution and barring US citizens from doing business with the two banks. Sanctions on state-owned enterprises, which have not yet been named, prohibit any American citizen from doing business with entities. As with previous financial measures for Russian financial institutions, there is a gap for energy. The measures are aimed at “degrading the basic assets of Russian state power” and inflicting rapid economic damage on Russia, sources told CBS News on Tuesday. President Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday that he would seek additional sanctions on Russia following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Bucha, a city outside Kyiv, where Ukrainian officials said they had found civilian bodies after the massacre. from the area. “You saw what happened in Bucha. That justifies him – he is a war criminal,” Biden said of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “But we have to gather the information, we have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs to continue the fight, and we have to know all the details so that a real war trial can take place. “This guy is brutal, and what is happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone has seen it.” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also told reporters at the White House that they expected further sanctions announcements “this week.” In a virtual speech to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Zelensky explained to the 15-member body what he said were war crimes committed by Russian forces that have invaded Ukraine, accusing them of deliberately killing adults and children and trying to burn them. their bodies. “Russian troops are deliberately destroying Ukrainian cities in the ashes with artillery and air raids. They are deliberately blocking cities, creating mass starvation. They are deliberately shooting columns of civilians in the street trying to escape hostilities. said Zelensky. While Russia has dismissed the shocking scenes as “fake”, CBS News has seen firsthand clear evidence of atrocities in the towns and villages around Kyiv. In the streets of Bucha, corpses were found in the streets, while dozens more were dumped in mass graves. The devastation left by Putin’s troops has sparked renewed calls for tougher sanctions against Russia, including a total halt to oil and gas imports. Germany and France have already deported dozens of diplomats, implying they were spies. Ever since Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine in late February, the United States and its European allies have joined forces to impose coordinated sanctions to cut Russia off from the world economy. Russia’s economy is projected to shrink by 15% or more in 2022, a collapse in Russia’s GDP that will erode the last 15 years of economic growth, according to an analysis by the Institute of International Finance. More
