The United States and allies will introduce a ban on all new investments in Russia in the coming days, the White House announced on Tuesday. West has been seeking to pile onto the already-imposed sanctions on Russia as new images from Bucha emerge, signaling war crimes in Ukraine.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, added that sanctions on Russia’s state-owned enterprises and financial institutions will also be increased. Government officials and their family members will also be sanctioned.
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“The goal is to force them to make a choice,” the White House press secretary said. “The biggest part of our objective here is to deplete the resources that Putin has to continue his war against Ukraine”, she added, according to reports from Associated Press.
Separately, the Treasury Department independently moved Tuesday to block any Russian government debt payments with American dollars from accounts at United States financial institutions, making it harder for Russia to fulfill its financial obligations.
While a flurry of sanctions are being thrown towards Russia from the West, the international community has been pouring in aid for Ukraine — military, financial and humanitarian.
Minutes before the White House announced the new sanctions on Russia, the United States Department of State revealed a new military aid for Ukraine for buying Javelin anti-armor missiles. The new aid will be worth $100 million, the State Department said in a press release.
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Psaki said the administration is assessing “additional consequences and steps we can put in place” but underscored that United States President Joe Biden is not weighing any military action.
The sanctions are intended to further Russia’s economic, financial and technological “isolation” from the rest of the world as a penalty for its attacks on civilians in Ukraine, Psaki said in the White House brief.