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U.S. imposes sanctions against Putin's inner circle and 17 Russian companies
4/28/2014 4:42:55 PM
The United States on Monday slapped sanctions on seven Russian government officials and 17 companies linked to Russian president Vladimir Putin in a fresh attempt to force Moscow to back down from its intervention in Ukraine.
The White House said the third round of sanctions in response to the Ukraine crisis was prompted by Moscow's failure to adhere to an April 17 agreement in Geneva on ways to resolve the situation.
Officials made clear that sanctions against key sections of Russia's economy will be imposed, including the energy and defense sections, should Russia send troops massed along the Ukraine border into eastern Ukraine.
The seven Russians sanctioned include two Putin allies: Igor Sechin, head of Russia's major oil company Rosneft, and Sergei Chemezov, head of Rostec, a Russian state-owned high-tech products company.
The seven are now subject to a freeze on any assets they hold in the United States and a ban on US travel. The 17 companies will be subject to an asset freeze.
Shares on Rosneft promptly fell in response to the sanctions against Sechin.
In addition, the United States will deny export license applications for any high-technology items that could contribute to Russian military capabilities. The Commerce and State Departments will revoke any existing export licenses that meet these conditions, the White House said.
The other people named were Oleg Belavencev, who is Putin's presidential envoy to Crimea, Dmitry Kozak, deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation, Evgeniy Murov, director of Russia's federal protective service and an army general, Aleksei Pushkov, a state Duma deputy, and Vyacheslav Volodin, a Putin adviser.
The list did not include gas company Gazprom chief Alexei Miller, a close ally of Putin whose name had surfaced as a possible target.
All the US and European sanctions against Russia have been aimed at specific individuals and businesses. US officials said additional sanctions were being held in reserve should they be deemed necessary.
President Barack Obama has drawn fire from Republican critics who think he has not moved aggressively enough in the face of the deepest East-West crisis since the Cold War.
Obama, who is ending a weeklong trip to Asia, has made clear that should Russia launch a military move deeper into Ukraine, the United States will slap sanctions on Russian economic areas such as the financial services, energy, metals and mining, engineering and defense sectors.
"We believe that the impact on the Russian economy will only grow," said a senior Obama administration official.
Senior administration officials told reporters the existing sanctions and threat of more are having an impact on the Russian economy, with the ruble suffering and $60 billion in capital flight from Russia already this year, exceeding the total of last year.
One senior official said European capitals were particularly incensed by the holding by pro-Russian militants in Ukraine of eight international monitors.
"These guys were paraded on television like POWs forced to make a statement to the press. There is broad belief that they have also been abused in captivity. Meanwhile, the Russians have the gall to blame this abuse of people who were in Ukraine at the government of Ukraine's invitation and with diplomatic privileges and immunity on the inability of the Ukrainians to provide security," said a senior official.
European Union governments reached a preliminary agreement on Monday to impose asset freezes and visa bans on 15 more people as part of expanded sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, diplomats said.
An EU procedure to approve the sanctions does not end until 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) but that is seen as a formality, EU diplomats said. The names of those to be added to the list will not be made public until they are published in the EU's Official Journal on Tuesday.
The EU decision coincided with a White House announcement that the United States was imposing sanctions against seven Russians, including Igor Sechin, head of Russia's major oil company Rosneft, and 17 companies linked to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The United States has been much more aggressive in the penalties it has imposed on Russia than has the 28-nation European Union, which depends heavily on Russia for energy.
The EU has previously imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 33 Russians and Crimeans for their part in Russia's seizure of Crimea.
The EU's European Commission is drawing up a list of tougher economic sanctions that could be imposed on Russia, but the EU is split between countries in favour of stronger action, including Britain, France, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic and the Baltic countries, and those who are reluctant, such as Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Luxembourg, Austria, Spain, Portugal and Malta.
Source: Agencies
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