The United States and the countries of the European Union announced a new package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The measures reach the two daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Maria and Katarina. Meanwhile, European leaders seek to end their countries’ energy dependency on Moscow.
Fifth package of sanctions
Washington announced that the new battery of sanctions against Moscow contains “devastating economic measures” and specified that one of the main banking institutions and several state-owned companies will receive the most severe financial sanctions. The White House also reported that Russian government officials and their families are also included in the measures that seek to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
The sanctions were adopted together with the countries that make up the G7 and the European Union (EU). The package calls for the complete blocking of the assets of the largest Russian financial institution, Sberbank, and the Alfa Bank in the United States, its main private bank. At the same time, US citizens are prohibited from doing business with both entities. In the coming days, President Joe Biden will sign an executive order restricting new investments in Russia for Americans, no matter what country they are in. From Biden’s government house they specified that the measure seeks to make Russia more isolated from the world economy and had the support of more than 600 multinational companies that decided to leave the Russian market.
The United States also vetoed American transactions with Russian state-owned companies. and froze their assets under the jurisdiction of the North American country. It is planned that Tomorrow the Treasury Department will reveal the names of the sanctioned companies.
Sanctions to the Kremlin and family
Biden included the Putin family in the sanctions. The US government expelled from its financial system and froze the assets of Russian officials and their families. Putin’s adult daughters Maria and Kayerina are included in this measure, as well as the wife and daughter of Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. and members of the Russian Security Council, including former President Dimitri Medvedev and current Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
“These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of Russian citizens” and “some of them are responsible for providing necessary support for Putin’s war in Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement. The US Treasury has prohibited Russia from making debt payments with funds under its jurisdiction.
Russian dependency
Western countries are also seeking to reduce their dependence on Russian energy and are in favor of an embargo on Russian gas. “These sanctions will not be the last. Yes, we have prohibited (the import of) coal, but now we have to look at oil and we will have to look at the income that Russia obtains from these fossil fuels,” stressed Von der Leyen before the European Parliament. While the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, urged to do everything possible to stop the atrocities that occur in the former Soviet republic. “We are tightening the sanctions to maintain maximum pressure on the Kremlin. The new sanctions package bans Russian coal imports and I think measures on Russian oil and even gas will be necessary sooner or later,” Michel said.
The high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, warned that while Brussels sent about a billion euros from the European Fund in Support of Peace, on the other hand it also bought energy from Moscow and for an amount of 35 billion euros. “Our independence, our energy autonomy, goes through the development of renewable energies and for once, geopolitics and climate change go hand in hand in a common goal,” said Borrell.
EU countries import half of the energy they consume. From Moscow they buy 46.7 percent of the coal it uses, 40 percent of the gas and 27 percent of the oil. In 2021, these exports meant €99 billion in revenue for Russia.
Downing Street sanctions
The British government announced that it will stop importing Russian coal before the end of the year. Boris Johnson’s administration also revealed that it plans to ban British investment in Russia. Johnson referred to the deaths at Bucha and used the term genocide even though his government avoids using it.
“When you look at what’s going on in Bucha, the revelations about what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is doing in Ukraine, it doesn’t seem far from genocide, in my opinion,” the conservative leader said.
The United Kingdom also joined the fifth package of sanctions imposed on Moscow and froze the assets of the entities Sberbank and Moscow Credit Bank. In this sense, Johnson’s Foreign Ministry reported that the objective of the measures is to put an end to energy dependence on the Kremlin.
Next week London will approve next week a legal instrument to veto the importation of iron and steel products (a key source of income for Moscow); and will restrict the sale to Russian firms of products related to quantum technologies, linked, among other areas, to cryptography and communications. “We are raising the level of our campaign to end (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s appalling war with some of our toughest sanctions yet,” said British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Germany for energy independence
For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ratified the determination to free Germany from Russian energy dependence. In parliament, the head of government also accused Russia of war crimes for the deaths of Ukrainian civilians. The Bundestag had previously condemned the Bucha massacre.
“Our purpose is to equip ourselves with liquefied gas terminals as soon as possible”Scholz said. The European country does not have any liquefied gas terminal that would allow it to do without importing Russian gas. Despite this, Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens had revealed that Berlin managed to cut Russian gas imports by 55 percent to 40 percent in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the green Annalena Baerbock, confirmed that the government is determined to “completely cut off energy dependence” on Russia.
Terror in Bucha
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the discovery of bodies in Bucha is a “gross and cynical provocation on the part of the kyiv regime.” It is the first time that the Russian president refers to the events recorded this week in a town near kyiv. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov had said it was a “horrible staging”. “Undoubtedly, the horrible staging in Bucha is necessary and should be investigated,” Peskov told reporters. The spokesman also stressed the need for the investigation to be carried out “impartially and independently.”
While China called Bucha’s images “deeply disturbing”, it did not blame Russia for the events. According to the spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian, the accusations must be supported by facts and he asked not to mix the humanitarian situation with politics. “All parties should show restraint and avoid baseless accusations before the results of the investigation are released,” the Chinese spokesman insisted. Zhao said that Beijing is “ready to continue working together with the international community to prevent any harm to civilians.”
From the Vatican, Pope Francis denounced the “new atrocities, such as the Bucha massacre.” “The recent news about the war in Ukraine, rather than bringing relief and hope, shows instead new atrocities, such as the Bucha massacre”denounced the pontiff during the General Audience on Wednesdays in the Holy See.
Francisco referred to the images that circulated about what happened in Bucha and affirmed that they show “increasingly horrendous cruelties, committed against defenseless civilians, women and children.” “They are victims, and their innocent blood cries out to heaven and implores an end to this war, to silence the weapons, to stop sowing blood and destruction,” Bergoglio said.