US introduces sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the travel ban would be part of the sanctions.
Washington, USA:
The United States said on Friday it would impose sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, following similar statements by Britain and the European Union following Moscow’s attack on Ukraine.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the travel ban would be part of the sanctions.
Following the measures, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Russian television that “we have reached the line after which the point of no return begins.”
The latest US measures add to a series of sanctions that will hit four Russian banks, cut Russian technology imports by more than half and target some of the country’s oligarchs.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also announced on Friday that sanctions would be imposed on Russia’s Direct Investment Fund, the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
The US State Department also sanctioned Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and First Deputy Defense Minister and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
Two members of Russia’s Security Council “have been identified to work or have been active in the defense sector and related facilities of the Russian economy,” the foreign ministry said.
The pair join a list of 11 other Russian Security Council members who have been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department.
“We will consider appointing more in the future if Russia does not stop its gratuitous campaign against Ukraine,” the statement added.
In Brussels, the EU sanctions package – the second approved this week as Russia’s military build-up shifts to an all-out offensive – was approved by leaders in an overnight summit.
It affects Russia’s financial, energy and transport sectors, and limits the ability of Russians to keep large amounts of cash in EU banks.
It also expands the number of Russians on the list of individuals sanctioned with entry bans and frozen EU assets.
Later, the British Treasury issued a financial sanctions notice against Putin and Lavrov, adding them to the list of Russian oligarchs who have had their assets and bank accounts frozen in the UK.
In addition to sanctions, Psaki said that any move by Russia to “hunt down” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be a “terrible act.”
Putin has called on the Ukrainian military to overthrow the government, whose leaders he describes as “terrorists” and “a gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis.”
Putin and Lavrov join a US blacklist that includes Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
