The United States and its allies are also seeking to end Moscow’s “most-favored-nation” trade status.
Brussels:
The United States, European Union and other allies on Friday escalated their economic pressure on Russia, moving to strip Moscow of privileged trade and economic treatment among other steps to punish Russia. penalize Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden said the new actions would generally make it more difficult for a Russian economy already weighed down by previously announced international sanctions that have affected the ruble and forced The stock market is closed.
Referring to the end of normal trade relations, Biden said: “Doing it together with other countries that make up half of the global economy would be another blow to the Russian economy, which is already suffering a lot. much of the effect of our sanctions.”
The measures announced by the EU, the United States and other G7 allies amount to the fourth set of sanctions against Russia during the February 24 invasion.
These include efforts to find ways to end Moscow’s “most-favored-nation” trade status, open the door to banning or imposing punitive tariffs on Russian goods, and put Russia on par with North Korea or Iran.
They will also ban luxury goods exported from their home countries to Russia, seen as a blow to the Russian elite.
As a first step, the EU will ban imports of iron and steel industry goods from Russia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was also working to suspend Russia’s membership of leading multilateral institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. suppress this institution’s use of crypto assets.
The US ban on luxury goods exports to Russia and its ally Belarus – including high-end watches, vehicles, clothing, alcohol and jewelry – is effective immediately, the Commerce Department said. Ministry of Commerce said.
The US Congress would need to pass legislation to revoke Russia’s trade status, and lawmakers have been moving in that direction. The United States also closed development funds while announcing a ban on Russian seafood, vodka and diamond imports. The White House said Biden would ban US investment in Russia outside of the energy sector.
Top U.S. imports from Russia include mineral fuels, precious metals and stones, iron and steel, fertilizers, and inorganic chemicals, all of which could be subject to higher tariffs once the country is out. The association took action to revoke Russia’s most-favored-nation trade status.
The United States also imposed sanctions on many Russian oligarchs, leaders and elites, targeting members of the lower house and billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, among others. Those affected by the new sanctions include 10 people including the board of directors of VTB Bank, 12 members of the Duma and family members of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the US Treasury said. know.
Russian forces invaded Ukraine last month in the biggest attack on a European country since the Second World War. Russia called the action a “special operation.”
“Russia cannot grossly violate international law and expect to benefit from being part of the international economic order,” the White House said in a statement.
The United States also imposed new sanctions related to North Korea, targeting Russian individuals and companies after US and South Korean officials said Pyongyang used a large intercontinental ballistic missile system. its best of the last two launches.
Meanwhile, Britain has imposed sanctions on 386 Duma members and has also said it will seek to ban luxury exports to Russia. The EU has sanctioned the same group of lawmakers.
The British announcement said the sanctions targeted those who voted to recognize the independence of Ukraine’s largely Russian-speaking breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk before the invasion.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Susan Heavey in Washington, Philip Blenkinsop, Sabine Siebold, Marine Strauss and Francesco Guarascio in Brussels, and William James and Michael Holden in London; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
