The Biden administration has announced further sanctions against Russia’s central bank, including preventing Americans from doing business with the bank and freezing the bank’s assets in the US as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Federation’s National Wealth Fund and the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Finance will also be targeted by the new sanctions.
The fresh penalties will take effect immediately, according to a senior Biden administration source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The source, during a conference call with some journalists, said, “We wanted to put these actions in place before our markets open because what we learned over the course of the weekend from our allies and partners was the Russian Central Bank was attempting to move assets and there would be a great deal of asset flight starting on Monday morning from institutions around the world.
“Our strategy to put it simply is to make sure that the Russian economy goes backward. As long as President Putin decides to go forward with his invasion of Ukraine.”
The United States is also sanctioning Kirill Dmitriev, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and also the direct investment fund he runs. Officially, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is a sovereign wealth fund, but it is generally seen as a war chest for Putin.
According to the official, the US expects its partners to follow suit in the days ahead.
This comes after the United States and its allies stated over the weekend that they will adopt restrictive measures to prohibit Russia’s central bank from using its international reserves in ways that could jeopardize sanctions.
Another senior administration official said, “No country is sanctions-proof and Putin’s war chest of $630 billion in reserves only matters if he can use it to defend his currency.”
In over the last week, the US and its allies have slapped a slew of new sanctions on Russia in an effort to keep economic pressure on the Regime.