US announces new sanctions against Russia

WASHINGTON (AP) — A year after Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States announced a new round of sanctions against businesses, banks, manufacturers and individuals, including entities that have helped Russia escape previous sanctions.

Russia’s metals and mining sectors are among the targets of the “largest sanctions to date” applied by the Treasury Department.

The measure, taken in coordination with Group of Seven allies, targets 250 individuals and businesses, imposes financial blockades on banks, arms dealers and technology companies linked to arms production. It also targets suspected sanctions evaders in various countries, from the United Arab Emirates to Switzerland.

“Our sanctions have both short-term and long-term impacts, which manifest themselves in Russia’s difficulties in resupplying itself with weapons and in its isolated economy,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. “Our steps taken today with our G7 partners show that we will be with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he added.

Yellen attends the G20 finance ministers meeting in Bangalore, India. He told senior Russian officials at Friday’s meetings that “continuing your work for the Kremlin makes you complicit in Putin’s atrocities.”

“They are responsible for the loss of life and livelihoods in Ukraine and the damage caused around the world,” he said.

The White House announced on Friday that the Pentagon will contribute $2 billion in munitions and a variety of small, high-tech drones for the fight against Russia.

The Departments of State and Commerce and the Office of the Trade Representative will present plans on Friday to increase pressure on Russia. These include customs duties on Russian goods and add some 90 companies from Russia and third countries, including China, to a list of identified fraudsters.

Friday’s sanctions package names a dozen financial institutions, including Russia’s largest private bank, electronics importers and producers of carbon fiber, a crucial material for defense systems.

The dossier names about 30 people and companies allegedly linked to the circumvention of the sanctions. He mentions among others the Italian-Swiss businessman Walter Moretti and his companies; Nurmurad Kurbanov, a Russian-Turkmen arms dealer, alleged representative of Russian and Belarusian defense companies abroad; and Russian businessman Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Udodov, former brother-in-law of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

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Associated Press writer Sibi Arasu in Bengaluru contributed to this report.