On Saturday, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov slammed the new wave of US sanctions against Russia as “mindless,” claiming that the measures will not force the country to “give up its independent course.”
“Washington and its allies are not succeeding in their attempts to “strangle” Russia with sanctions,” he asserted, adding that Moscow has “learned to live under economic and political pressure.”
Antonov also accused the US of “deliberately destroying the bilateral dialogue and international relations.”
💬Anatoly Antonov: Washington and its allies are not succeeding in their attempts to "strangle" 🇷🇺 with sanctions.
— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) February 25, 2023
❗️We've learned to live under economic and political pressure. The 🇷🇺 economy is being readjusted, and our capabilities in import substitution are increasing. pic.twitter.com/cFf5AEtRzs
US State Department Imposes Additional Sanctions
To mark the Russia-Ukraine war’s first anniversary on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new package of sanctions against Russia to target 60 individuals and entities involved in the Ukraine war, including ministers and governors, along with six individuals and three entities operating in Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories to aid grain theft, to “promote accountability for the Kremlin’s war.”
The department also designated three entities involved in expanding Russia’s future energy production and export capacity, four individuals and 22 entities in the Russian advanced technology sector, and three important companies that develop and operate Russian nuclear weapons, along with three Russian civil nuclear entities under the Rosatom organisational structure.
On the one-year anniversary of Russia's war on Ukraine, we are committed to redoubling our efforts to promote accountability for Russia’s war. Today, @StateDept, @USTreasury, @CommerceGov, and @USTradeRep took actions with the G7 to degrade Russia's ability to carry out this war.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 24, 2023
Additionally, Blinken imposed visa restrictions on 1,219 members of the Russian military, including three officials for “gross violations of human rights perpetrated against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of wars.”
US Treasury Targets Russian Banks, Mining Sector
On Friday, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted Russia’s metals and mining sector, sanctioning 22 individuals and 83 entities, including TPZ-Rondol, a subsidiary of Russia’s largest ammunition producer.
Further, the Treasury said that the Biden administration was “ramping up efforts” to counter Russia’s “ways to evade sanctions and export controls” by designating over 30 third-country individuals and companies connected to Russia’s sanctions evasion efforts from Switzerland, Germany, and the Middle East, “including those related to arms trafficking and illicit finance.”
The sanctions from the U.S. and our global coalition of allies and partners are having a significant impact on Russia's ability to equip its military and fund its illegal war. We will continue to ramp up sanctions and crack down on evasion. pic.twitter.com/CJGMRQDUkl
— Secretary Janet Yellen (@SecYellen) February 24, 2023
Additionally, the OFAC sanctioned over a dozen Russian banks, including the country’s biggest non-state public bank, Credit Bank of Moscow Joint Public Stock Company, which was fully banned by the EU in December.
“Since February 2022, Treasury has implemented more than 2,500 sanctions in response to Russia’s war of choice,” US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen noted.
In a similar vein, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNBC, “What we’re doing today is furthering the vice around the Kremlin’s ability to fight its war in Ukraine.”