US imposes sanctions on 400 more targets for aiding Russia's war effort
Adds Zelenskiy statement in paragraphs 8-9, financial sanction details in paragraph 13
By Simon Lewis and David Lawder
WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) -The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on more than 400 entities and individuals for supporting Russia's war effort in Ukraine, the State Department said, including Chinese companies that U.S. officials believe are helping Moscow skirt Western sanctions and build up its military.
Washington has repeatedly warned Beijing over its support for Russia's defense industrial base and has already issued hundreds of sanctions aimed at restricting Moscow's ability to exploit certain technologies for military purposes.
Friday's sanctions include measures against companies in China involved in shipping machine tools and microelectronics to Russia, according to a State Department fact sheet outlining its sanctions against 190 targets.
The U.S. Treasury Department said it was also targeting transnational networks involved in procuring ammunition and other materiel for Russia, helping Russian oligarchs and others evade sanctions and laundering gold for a sanctioned company.
"Russia has turned its economy into a tool in service of the Kremlin’s military industrial complex," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo was quoted as saying in the statement.
"Companies, financial institutions, and governments around the world need to ensure they are not supporting Russia’s military-industrial supply chains."
The Biden administration also added 123 entities to its U.S. export control list known as the Entity List that forces suppliers to obtain licenses before shipping to targeted companies. Those added on Friday included 63 entities in Russia and 42 in China, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the U.S. for the "additional strong sanctions" in a message on the X social media platform, saying they would further weaken Russia's ability to "wage an aggressive war against Ukraine."
"Pressure on the aggressor must be maintained and increased constantly as long as Russia continues its aggression," Zelenskiy added.
Russia's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new sanctions.
After seizing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022, triggering a host of new U.S. economic sanctions on Moscow.
The war escalated on Aug. 6 when Ukraine sent thousands of soldiers over the border into Russia's western Kursk region. Kyiv has since announced a string of battlefield successes, but Russian forces continue to steadily inch forward in eastern Ukraine.
The U.S. Treasury said it was imposing sanctions on several Russian financial technology, securities, real estate lending and other financial firms, but it stopped short of imposing sanctions against foreign banks for aiding transactions that support Russia's war effort. The Treasury has warned banks since December that continued transactions in Russia's war economy could cut them off from the dollar-based financial system.
CHINA TARGETS
The State Department's sanctions include moves aimed at stifling Russia's energy sector and against companies in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Central Asian economies that the U.S. believes are helping Russia evade sanctions, the State Department said.
"Today's actions hit Russia where it hurts - degrading its ability to generate revenue through its energy projects and disrupting its acquisition of materiel to supply its war machine," said Aaron Forsberg, the State Department's director for economic sanctions policy and implementation.
Targets include the import-export arm of China's Dalian Machine Tool Group, which the State Department said had supplied $4 million of dual-use items to Russian companies.
The Treasury also targeted more than 20 Hong Kong and China-based firms it said were supplying Russia's military industrial base.
China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China says it has not provided weaponry to Russia for the war in Ukraine, but defends what it calls normal trade between China and Russia.
The latest U.S. sanctions include measures against firms supplying components used in the Orlan drones that Russia is using in Ukraine.
Washington also sought with the sanctions to disrupt future energy projects in Russia and its shipment of liquefied natural gas. It targeted Russia's $21 billion Arctic LNG 2 project, which has already been hit by Western sanctions that have curbed its access to ice-class tankers, and other companies involved in future energy projects in Russia, according to the fact sheet.
The sanctions also targeted companies involved in the shipments, like UAE-based White Fox Ship Management, which the U.S. says recently acquired four tankers to ship LNG.
Reporting by Simon Lewis and David Lawder; additional reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Jamie Freed, Angus MacSwan and Jonathan Oatis
تازہ ترين خبريں
دستبرداری: XM Group کے ادارے ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت تک صرف عملدرآمد کی خدمت اور رسائی مہیا کرتے ہیں، کسی شخص کو ویب سائٹ پر یا اس کے ذریعے دستیاب کانٹینٹ کو دیکھنے اور/یا استعمال کرنے کی اجازت دیتا ہے، اس پر تبدیل یا توسیع کا ارادہ نہیں ہے ، اور نہ ہی یہ تبدیل ہوتا ہے یا اس پر وسعت کریں۔ اس طرح کی رسائی اور استعمال ہمیشہ مشروط ہوتا ہے: (i) شرائط و ضوابط؛ (ii) خطرہ انتباہات؛ اور (iii) مکمل دستبرداری۔ لہذا اس طرح کے مواد کو عام معلومات سے زیادہ کے طور پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے۔ خاص طور پر، براہ کرم آگاہ رہیں کہ ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت کے مندرجات نہ تو کوئی درخواست ہے، اور نہ ہی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں کوئی لین دین داخل کرنے کی پیش کش ہے۔ کسی بھی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں تجارت میں آپ کے سرمائے کے لئے ایک خاص سطح کا خطرہ ہوتا ہے۔
ہماری آن لائن تجارتی سہولت پر شائع ہونے والے تمام مٹیریل کا مقصد صرف تعلیمی/معلوماتی مقاصد کے لئے ہے، اور اس میں شامل نہیں ہے — اور نہ ہی اسے فنانشل، سرمایہ کاری ٹیکس یا تجارتی مشورے اور سفارشات؛ یا ہماری تجارتی قیمتوں کا ریکارڈ؛ یا کسی بھی فنانشل انسٹرومنٹ میں لین دین کی پیشکش؛ یا اسکے لئے مانگ؛ یا غیر متنازعہ مالی تشہیرات پر مشتمل سمجھا جانا چاہئے۔
کوئی تھرڈ پارٹی کانٹینٹ، نیز XM کے ذریعہ تیار کردہ کانٹینٹ، جیسے: راۓ، خبریں، تحقیق، تجزیہ، قیمتیں اور دیگر معلومات یا اس ویب سائٹ پر مشتمل تھرڈ پارٹی کے سائٹس کے لنکس کو "جیسے ہے" کی بنیاد پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے، عام مارکیٹ کی تفسیر کے طور پر، اور سرمایہ کاری کے مشورے کو تشکیل نہ دیں۔ اس حد تک کہ کسی بھی کانٹینٹ کو سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیقات کے طور پر سمجھا جاتا ہے، آپ کو نوٹ کرنا اور قبول کرنا ہوگا کہ یہ کانٹینٹ سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیق کی آزادی کو فروغ دینے کے لئے ڈیزائن کردہ قانونی تقاضوں کے مطابق نہیں ہے اور تیار نہیں کیا گیا ہے، اسی طرح، اس پر غور کیا جائے گا بطور متعلقہ قوانین اور ضوابط کے تحت مارکیٹنگ مواصلات۔ براہ کرم یقینی بنائیں کہ آپ غیر آزاد سرمایہ کاری سے متعلق ہماری اطلاع کو پڑھ اور سمجھ چکے ہیں۔ مذکورہ بالا معلومات کے بارے میں تحقیق اور رسک وارننگ ، جس تک رسائی یہاں حاصل کی جا سکتی ہے۔