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Obama
extends sanctions against Russia to include wealthy Putin allies
White
House suggests executive order might not be the end of measures taken
in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine
20
March, 2014
President
Obama has extended financial sanctions against Russia to include
wealthy supporters of Vladimir Putin and a bank close to the Kremlin,
in a bid to deter Russian military incursions into eastern and
southern Ukraine.
Amid
growing pressure for a tougher US response to the crisis, the White
House also issued a new executive order authorising a co-ordinated
economic blockade with the European Union against key Russian
industries if the situation escalates.
White
House officials also revealed the Pentagon was providing “non-lethal”
assistance to the Ukrainian military and claimed there were signs of
human rights abuses against minorities in Crimea, including the
apparent torture of dead Tatar man and “houses marked in a biblical
fashion”.
“We
have continued to be deeply concerned by events in Ukraine,” said
Obama. “We have seen a illegal referendum in Crimea, an
illegitimate move by the Russians to annex Crimea and dangerous risks
of escalation.”
“Because
of these choices the US is today moving to impose additional costs on
Russia. We’re imposing sanctions against more senior officials of
the Russian government and in addition we are sanctioning a number of
other individuals with substantial resources and influence.”
The
additional financial sanctions target 20 new individuals, including
eight officials previously identified by the European Union. They
extend an initial list announced on Monday to add what the White
House calls “Putin’s cronies”.
The
previous blacklist of 11 officials shied away from touching top
figures or oligarchs.
Most
significantly, the new blacklist targets several influential
businessmen known to be close to Putin.
Gennady
Timchenko, who controls the Gunvor Group, the fourth-largest crude
oil trader in the world, has a net worth of $15.3bn and was said by
Forbes to be “one of the most powerful people in Russia.”
Arkady
and Boris Rotenberg, judo friends of Putin and co-owners of SMP Bank
and SGM Group, which provide construction services to
state-controlled gas giant Gazprom, were among the elites said to
have profited from the Sochi Olympics.
Companies
controlled by Arkady Rotenberg won at least $7.4bn worth of contracts
related to the Games, Bloomberg reported. He is one of the most
influential businessmen in the country, according to Forbes.
The
new list also targets Bank Rossiya, which the US claims is the
personal bank for senior officials of the Russian Federation.
Among
the new Kremlin officials who will face asset freezes are Sergei
Ivanov, Putin’s chief of staff, and state Duma chairman Sergei
Naryshkin, who has vocally supported Russian intervention in Ukraine.
Vladimir Yakunin, the head of state-owned Russian Railways, was also
on the list.
All
those included will have any US assets frozen and a ban placed on any
dealings with US companies, which the White House claims will affect
their ability to do business globally.
Several
Russian politicians openly mocked earlier White House sanctions
against government officials, claiming they did not have any assets
that could be hurt by the move and would not deter their policy in
Crimea.
But
officials in Washington insisted the new steps – together with the
threat of co-ordinated action with the EU against Russian industry –
were intended to send a signal to deter possible Russian military
incursions in eastern and southern Ukraine.
“We
are concerned by recent Russian military movements. It would be a
significant escalation for Russia to move into southern and eastern
Ukraine,” a senior US administration official told reporters. “That
is part of the context [of these sanctions]; to send a signal that
these key sectors of the Russian economy are in play for sanctions.”
The
official added: “Sanctions build over time. They are very powerful.
People might think they are a mere wrist slap, but I can assure you
they are not.”
Despite
calls from Kiev for military support from the US, Obama has made
clear that he is not willing to risk American troops in Ukraine and
is so far not supplying arms. “We are not going to be getting into
a military excursion in Ukraine,” the president said in an
interview on Wednesday.
But
White House officials confirmed on Thursday that the Pentagon was
already providing “non lethal assistance” to Ukraine – a phrase
that could indicate intelligence and satellite imagery, or equipment
such as night-vision goggles. They also said the US had evidence that
Moscow had closed its border to Ukrainian goods entering Russia,
imposing “an effective trade embargo”.
In
retaliation to the US economic sanctions, Moscow has also announced
its own financial blacklist including White House deputy national
security adviser Ben Rhodes, senators John McCain and Harry Reid and
House speaker John Boehner.
The
White House decision to blacklist some of Putin’s closest aides
piled the pressure on Europe to get tougher with Russia, although the
Europeans have immeasurably more at stake in an escalating sanctions
war with Moscow.
The
Europeans were expected to acquiesce to Russia’s seizure of the
Crimea from Ukraine while talking up the prospects of a potential
trade war with Moscow if Putin expands his territorial ambitions
beyond the Black Sea peninsula.
A
summit of EU leaders in Brussels wrestled with a response to what is
broadly seen as the most significant act of destabilisation in Europe
since the end of the cold war. They were expected to blacklist at
least a further 10 Russian and Crimean officials, adding to the 21
who were barred from travelling to the EU and had their assets frozen
on Monday.
The
new names were believed to mirror those sanctioned by the US
administration earlier this week. The Europeans also called off an
EU-Russia summit scheduled for June in Sochi, but remained deeply
divided about escalating the dispute with the Kremlin for fear of the
damage that Moscow could do to the Europeans in a full-blown trade
war.
Extraordinary
measures were taken at the summit to preserve confidentiality,
signaling the sensitivity of the debate among 28 national leaders.
The president of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, chairing
the summit, barred all aides and advisers to the government chiefs
from Thursday evening’s dinner and insisted no mobile phones or
other electronic devices be allowed. There was no known precedent for
such measures in the history of EU summitry, diplomats said.
German
chancellor Angela Merkel said that the EU would move to economic and
financial sanctions against Russia if Putin extended the conflict
beyond Crimea. But Berlin also recognized that the peninsula was a
lost cause.
“It
has to be said clearly [by Moscow] that Russia is not pursuing any
territorial interests beyond Crimea,” said the German foreign
minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The
pressure from Washington also strengthened the hand of David Cameron,
the British prime minister, who led calls for more robust action
against Russia. Confidential diplomatic cables seen by the Guardian
confirmed that Britain was spearheading demands that the EU prepare
financial and trade sanctions against Moscow, known as stage three of
the sanctions regime.
“The
UK in particular has expressed the expectation that the European
Council [summit] take concrete measures on the next steps,” said a
cable. The British were calling for “emergency planning” on stage
three sanctions while also declaring that the pain in Europe from the
expected Russian reprisals had to be spread “equally”.
“What
Russia has done is unacceptable,” said Cameron. “The countries of
the European Union need to speak with a clear and united voice. What
that means is more asset freezes and travel bans, more actions
specifically in respect of what has happened in the Crimea, but also
it means making sure that we do everything we can to help build a
strong and democratic Ukraine.”
Thursday
night’s confidential dinner debate was expected to focus for the
first time on broadening financial and trade sanctions on Russia,
their impact, and the likely effect on European countries from the
certain Russian retaliation.
The
leaders were expected to warn Putin of the possible move towards a
trade war, hoping that this would act as a deterrent, said senior EU
diplomats. Other officials said the summit might move beyond the
blacklisting of officials by agreeing an arms embargo on Russia, a
move that might be opposed by France which has billions at stake in
defence contracts with Moscow.
Sanctions tit-for-tat: Moscow strikes back against US officials
RT,
20
March, 2014
Russia’s
Foreign Ministry has published a reciprocal sanctions list of US
citizens, consisting of 10 names, including: House of Representatives
Speaker John Boehner, Senator J. McCain; and advisers to President
Obama D. Pfeiffer and C. Atkinson.
THE
LIST OF OFFICIALS AND LAWMAKERS
These
officials, along with another five named by the Foreign Ministry, are
banned from entering the country.
The
move comes in response to US sanctions imposed against Russian
officials after the March-16 referendum in Crimea, which Washington
considered “illegitimate.”
“In
response to sanctions imposed by the US Administration on 17 March
against a number of Russian officials and deputies of the Federal
Assembly as a “punishment” for support of the referendum in
Crimea, the Russian foreign Ministry announces the introduction of
reciprocal sanctions against a similar number of US officials and
lawmakers,” reads the statement published on the Foreign Ministry’s
website.
The
Ministry reiterates that Russia has “repeatedly” stressed using
sanctions is a “double-edged thing” and it will have a
“boomerang” effect against the US itself.
“Treating
our country in such way, as Washington could have already
ascertained, is inappropriate and counterproductive,” the statement
said.
The
statement continued: “Nevertheless, it looks like the American side
continues to blindly believe in the effectiveness of such methods,
taken from the arsenal of the past, and does not want to face the
obvious: the people of Crimea, in a democratic way in full accordance
with international law and UN regulations, voted to join Russia,
which respects and accepts this choice. You may like this decision or
not, but we are talking about a reality, which needs to be taken into
consideration.”
On
Thursday US President Barack Obama announced a new executive order
imposing further on key sectors of the Russian economy and top
Russian officials and businessmen. The measures will impact Russian
energy, mining, defense and engineering sectors.
The
Russian presidential administration has focused on analyzing new
sanctions the US imposed against top officials, according to
presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
He
said that seeing certain names on the US sanction list “is
puzzling.”
“But
whatever the names are, the presence of any of the lists is
unacceptable for us,” Peskov continued.
“In
any case, it will not take long for Russia to react,” he added.
Earlier
on Thursday, 443 of 446 Russian lower house MPs voted to ratify the
acceptance of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as
new parts of the Russian Federation.
However,
just like the US, the EU does not recognize the results of the
referendum, in which over 96 percent of citizens voted to join
Russia.
The
referendum was followed by EU sanctions against 21 Russian and
Crimean officials. The sanctions are due to be expanded when EU
leaders meet for a two-day summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Also
on Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the EU will
impose more sanctions on Russia and will suspend all G8 meetings
until the political situation changes.
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