Russian officials and energy executives were added to U.S. sanctions blacklist on Friday as the White House prepares to release details regarding further penalties for Moscow's geopolitical business dealings, according to a new report by Reuters.
The Trump administration has been mulling over new penalties against Russia for meddling in last U.S. presidential elections that led to the Republican victory. The Kremlin has denied any allegations of interfering in the polls.
The U.S. and the European Union have put Russia under sanctions since Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Since then, President Vladimir Putin has supported rebels in the eastern portion of the country, prompting swift condemnation from U.S. and allied nations.
The blacklist now includes Sergey Topor-Gilka, who runs the engineering company Technopromexport and several subsidiaries of Surgutneftegaz (SNGS.MM), the Treasury Department said.
"Today's action is part of Treasury's continued commitment to maintain sanctions pressure on Russia," the department said in a statement. "This action underscores the U.S. government's opposition to Russia's occupation of Crimea and firm refusal to recognize its attempted annexation of the peninsula."
Earlier this week, another round of sanctions from the White House targeted tankers that were revealed to be delivering oil products from Russia to North Korea, violating international sanctions against the latter state for its nuclear weapons program and human rights abuses, according to a Reuters report.
"Treasury continues to systematically target individuals and entities financing the Kim (Jong-un) regime (in North Korea) and its weapons programs, including officials complicit in North Korean sanctions evasion schemes," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said while announcing the new measures. "We are sanctioning additional oil, shipping, and trading companies that continue to provide a lifeline to North Korea to fuel this regime's nuclear ambitions and destabilizing activities."
By Zainab Calcuttawala for OIlprice.com
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Zainab Calcuttawala is an American journalist based in Morocco. She completed her undergraduate coursework at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook’em) and reports on… More
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