The US on Thursday announced fresh sanctions against Russia in which Joe Biden-led administration targeted Russian defence firms, members of its parliament and the chief executive of the country’s largest bank. The announcement comes after NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Alliance) allies, European Council, and G7 members met in Brussels, Belgium earlier in the day to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This was the first meeting between the trio since the war began last month.
In the latest sanctions, the US will impose complete blocking on over 400 individuals and entities, including Russia’s lower house of parliament – Duma and its 328 members, 48 Russian defence firms, and over a dozen of the country’s elites.
“I’m announcing additional sanctions on over 400 Russian elites, lawmakers, and defense companies in response to Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine. They personally gain from the Kremlin’s policies, and they should share in the pain,” Biden tweeted.
Besides the sanctions, the US said that it is announcing plans to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians and others fleeing Russian invasion “through the full range of legal pathways, including the US Refugee Admissions Program”.
“In particular, we are working to expand and develop new programs with a focus on welcoming Ukrainians who have family members in the United States. The United States and the European Union are also coordinating closely to ensure that these efforts, and other forms of humanitarian admission or transfers, are complementary and provide much-needed support to Ukraine’s neighbours,” a statement from the White House read.
Furthermore, the US said that the Biden administration is prepared to provide over $1 billion in new funding towards humanitarian assistance to support people within Ukraine and “assist those affected by the global impacts of Russia’s war”.
“With the support of the United States and Allies and partners, the World Food Programme is working to reach 3.1 million people in Ukraine with ready-to-eat rations, canned goods, bread, wheat, flour, and oil. US-funded humanitarian organizations in Ukraine are operating mobile medical teams and delivering emergency health supplies and medicine to public health care centers, enabling continued primary health services, trauma care, and vaccinations,” the statement added.
Quoting a senior official of the Biden administration, Reuters reported that the repeated sanctions against Russia are aimed “methodically” removing the benefits and privileges Russia “once enjoyed” as a participant in the global economic order.
Meanwhile, NATO secretary-general Jens Stolenberg – whose term has been extended for a year in view of Russia-Ukraine war, said that the military alliance is bolstering its defenses against chemical and nuclear attacks by Russia.
The leaders of the trio also decided to beef up security in its eastern front – Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who addressed the NATO summit from Kyiv via a video link, called for sending offensive weapons, including fighters jets and tanks. He said the alliance can stop Ukrainian deaths “by giving us all the weapons we need”.
At the moment, NATO members are only supplying Ukraine with defensive equipment.
