US Announces Another Round of Sanctions on Russia

The measures target about 40 people and entities the US accuses of working to evade sanctions

by Dave DeCamp 

Posted onApril 20, 2022CategoriesNewsTagsRussia

On Wednesday, the US announced another round of sanctions on Russia. According to the Treasury Department, the measures targeted “facilitators of Russian sanctions evasion.”

The Treasury Department accused the people and companies it targeted of working to evade US sanctions on Russia. The sanctions hit the Russian bank Transkapitalbank as well as a network of more than 40 individuals and entities the US said is led by Russian billionaire Konstantin Malofeyev.

Malofeyev had already been under US sanctions, which were first imposed in 2014. Wednesday’s measures also targeted Russia’s virtual currency mining by sanctioning the holding company of the Moscow-based bitcoin miner BitRiver.

Separately, the State Department announced new visa restrictions on 635 Russians, including members of the State Duma.

So far, the US-led Western sanctions campaign has done nothing to stop the fighting in Ukraine and doesn’t appear to be hurting Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose approval ratings are soaring. While the Russian economy is hurting, Russia’s ruble has already recovered from the crash it took when Putin first invaded Ukraine, and inflation in Russia has slowed to pre-war levels.

The US and its allies are digging in for the long-term as the EU is planning to phase out Russian energy despite the damage it will do to Europe’s economy. At this point, the sanctions have exemptions for energy deals, although President Biden has banned the import of Russian oil, gas, and coal into the US.

https://news.antiwar.com/2022/04/20/us-announces-another-round-of-sanctions-on-russia/