On war path. Russia-Ukraine war: US vows more sanctions against Russia

As war between Russia and Ukraine enters the second year, the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on Thursday said the Russian economy is getting isolated. At the same time, she vowed for more sanctions against Russia.

Yellen is in India to attend the G20 meeting.

“We are seeking to strengthen sanctions and make sure that we address violations of sanctions. We have made clear that providing material support to Russia or assistance with any kind of systemic sanctions evasion would be a very serious concern,” she said while addressing a press conference. Her statement further got endorsment from G7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union). The group under Japan presidency agreed that sanctions need to be continued and if required more should be imposed. It also approved support from $39 billion in 2023 for Ukraine.

Yellen said that US will also convey to China about following sanction. “We will certainly continue to make it clear to the Chinese government and the companies and banks in their jurisdiction about what the rules are regarding our sanctions and the serious consequences they would face for violating them.,” she said.

Media reports, quoting sources, say the Biden administration is expected to impose fresh sanctions on about 200 Russian individuals and entities this week. It may be noted that since February 2022, the U.S. government has denied all (U.S) exports, re-exports to, and transfers of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations for military end uses or end users in the Russian Federation and Belarus. It Targeted Russian and Belarusian military end users through their addition to the Department of Commerce’s Entity List, which has effectively cut off these end users from nearly all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. It also denied exports to, re-exports to, and transfer within Russia and Belarus of items needed for oil refining. Also imposed additional license requirements to further limit the Russian oil sector by restricting the export, re-export and transfer of additional items needed for oil refining.

Yellen said that since the early days of the war, the US partnered with a multilateral coalition of over 30 countries to impose severe economic costs on Russia for its brutal assault. “Our twin goals are to degrade Russia’s military-industrial complex and reduce the revenues that it can use to fund its war. We are seeing the impacts of these actions,” she said. Further, the Russian military is struggling to replace over 9,000 pieces of heavy military equipment that it has lost since February 2022. It has suffered production shut-downs at key defence-industrial facilities. Further, “Russia’s economy has become increasingly isolated. Estimates indicate that nearly a million Russians may have left the country last year. This is putting downward pressure on its productive capacity going forward,” she said.

She reiterated that the US will stand with Ukraine in its fight – for as long as it takes. “We commend our allies for stepping up their direct assistance. And we believe it’s critical that the IMF move swiftly toward a fully financed program for Ukraine – as they have said they will do. Continued, robust support for Ukraine will be a major topic of discussion during my time here in India,” she said.

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