The Obama administration Friday announced new penalties against Russia’s largest bank and expanded sanctions on the nation’s energy and defense sectors, pledging additional economic punishment if Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his incursions in Ukraine.
The Treasury Department added Sberbank of Russia, the country’s largest bank, to the list of sanctioned financial institutions, joining the Bank of Moscow, Gazprombank OAO, Russian Agricultural Bank, Sberbank, VEB, and VTB Bank.
The U.S. also blocked the assets of five Russian state-owned defense technology firms – OAO Dolgoprudny Research Production Enterprise, Mytishchinski Mashinostroitelny Zavod OAO, Kalinin Machine Plant JSC, Almaz-Antey GSKB and JSC NIIP.
Russian energy companies Gazprom Neft and Transneft are now prohibited from issuing new transactions with debt of greater than 90 days, the administration said.
“Today’s actions demonstrate our determination to increase the costs on Russia as long as it continues to violate Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. “The United States, in close cooperation with the European Union, will impose ever-increasing sanctions that further Russia’s isolation from the global financial system unless Russia abandons its current path and genuinely works toward a negotiated diplomatic resolution to the crisis.”
The White House said the additional sanctions were imposed because Russia failed to destabilize the situation in Ukraine after an announced cease-fire between Russian and Ukrainian officials.
The new restrictions would also prohibit major U.S. and European companies from helping Russia search for oil in the Arctic region.
In a briefing with reporters, a senior administration official said the new sanctions “can be rolled back” and “will be rolled back” if Russia meets conditions of peace talks with Ukrainians.
