The United States imposes sanctions against almost 80% of banking assets in Russia due to the military operation in the Donbass, reports Reuters, citing the US Treasury. In accordance with the document, the largest Russian banks, VTB and Sberbank, will be subject to restrictions.
“We will limit the opportunity for Russia to do business in dollars, euros, pounds, yen, to be part of the global economy. We are also blocking four other major banks, which means that all the assets they have in America will be frozen. This includes Russia’s second largest bank, VTB,” US President Joe Biden said during a speech at the White House.
In addition to VTB and Sberbank, the following credit institutions were included in the sanctions list: Otkritie Bank, Novikombank and Sovcombank. Biden stressed that the sanctions were designed in such a way as to inflict severe damage on Russia and reduce the consequences for the American economy and allies.
“Sanctions have been a reality for us over the past few years, and the next round of politically motivated anti-Russian sanctions did not come as a surprise. We had time to learn lessons and prepare for the toughest scenario, we worked out several plans to counter sanctions in such a way as to minimize the negative consequences for our clients,” the VTB press service said earlier.
On the morning of February 24, Russia launched a military operation in the Donbass. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), whose sovereignty Russia recognized on February 21, asked for help from the country. According to the head of state, Russia is not going to occupy Ukraine, but will strive “to demilitarize and denazify” this country.