President Joe Biden announced Thursday the United States is adding to the list of oligarchs it’s sanctioning in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The expanded list of “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s cronies” includes eight Russian elites and their family members. Those individuals will be cut off from the U.S. financial system and their assets within the United States will be frozen and their property blocked from use, according to a White House statement released March 3.
“One of the big factors is, of course, the proximity to Vladimir Putin,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said of the strategy on who to sanction. “We want him to feel the squeeze, we want those around him to feel the squeeze.”
Psaki added that this is not likely the last set of oligarchs to be sanctioned.
The new sanctions also include visa restrictions on 19 Russian elites and 47 of their family members and close associates.
The White House also says it’s working with foreign governments to seize the assets of Russian elites including “yachts, luxury apartments, money and other ill-gotten gains.”
Biden told reporters Thursday the sanctions already imposed against Putin’s inner circle has “had a profound impact already.”
“Our interest is in maintaining the strongest unified economic impact campaign on Putin in all history and I think we’re well on the way to doing that,” Biden said.
In Biden’s State of the Union address this week he announced a Department of Justice (DOJ) effort to go after the assets of Russian oligarchs. The Department of Treasury will share financial intelligence and other evidence where appropriate with the Department of Justice to support criminal prosecutions and seizure of assets, according to Thursday’s announcement.
He also reiterated Thursday the United States is “going to continue to support Ukrainian people with direct assistance.”
The list of oligarchs includes Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov, “one of Russia’s wealthiest individuals and a close ally of Putin,” and Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Others are Nikolai Tokarev, Boris Rotenberg, Arkady Rotenberg, Sergei Chemezov, Igor Shuvalov, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, and their family members.
The White House announcement also includes sanctions against a list of Russian think tanks and media outlets it considers “disinformation targets.”
“These entities have spread false narratives that advance Russian strategic objectives and falsely justify the Kremlin’s activities,” the White House statement reads.
That list of entities designated by the Treasury includes: SDN Strategic Culture Foundation and associated outlets Odna Rodyna, Rhythm of Eurasia, and Journal Kamerton; SouthFront; SDN InfoRos; New Eastern Outlook; Oriental Review; United World International; and Geopolitical.
From The Epoch Times
