Biden Signs Order Targeting Banks Of Russian Defense Firms

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order giving the US Treasury Department the power to target financial institutions that facilitate Russia’s efforts to bolster its defense industry, Fatima Hussein and Aamer Madhani reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The new sanctions authority is meant to gum up the Kremlin’s push to restock the Russian military’s depleted arsenal after nearly 22 months of fighting in Ukraine. I Photo: Vitaliy Ragulin Wikimedia Commons

The new sanctions authority is meant to gum up the Kremlin’s push to restock the Russian military’s depleted arsenal after nearly 22 months of fighting in Ukraine. Russia has already lost over 13,000 pieces of equipment, including tanks, drones, and missile systems, according to a US assessment.

The order also seeks to tighten existing restrictions on diamonds and seafood imported from Russia after a review by US agencies.

“We expect financial institutions will undertake every effort to ensure that they are not witting or unwitting facilitators of circumvention and evasion,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement announcing the order.

“And we will not hesitate to use the new tools provided by this authority to take decisive, and surgical, action against financial institutions that facilitate the supply of Russia’s war machine.”

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