Treasury Sec. says fresh attempts will 'degrade Putin's capabilities' in Ukraine war

The US Treasury stated today that it will block Russian gold imports and target vital defence operations as part of its new sanctions package (Tuesday).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury has categorised 70 businesses as "critical" to Russia's defence industrial base, including the state-owned defence corporation Rostec.

OFAC stated in a statement that today's sanctions package would target 70 businesses and 29 Russian people and would "strike at the heart" of Russia's capacity to "produce and deploy weapons and technologies" against Ukraine.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said: “We once again reaffirm our commitment to working alongside our partners and allies to impose additional severe sanctions in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

“Broad multilateral commitments and actions by G7 members this week further cut off the Russian Federation’s access to technology that is critical to their military,” she added.

“Targeting Russia’s defence industry will degrade Putin’s capabilities and further impede his war against Ukraine, which has already been plagued by poor morale, broken supply chains and logistical failures,” said Sec. Yellen.

The new penalties were adopted in conjunction with the US Department of State, which announced further sanctions against 45 businesses and 29 people. These include the classification of Russian military troops and the Federal Security Service (FSB) as "credibly complicit in human rights abuses or breaches of international humanitarian law in Ukraine."

The State Department has also announced measures to limit visas for more than 500 Russian Federation military officers thought to have "threatened or violated Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence."

OFAC has announced that it will restrict the entry of Russian gold into the United States as part of today's statement, while FinCEN and the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security have encouraged vigilance against Russian and Belarusian export control evasion.

The United States will now join the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan in prohibiting gold imports from Russia, the country's largest non-energy export.

By fLEXI tEAM