U.S Issues Over 300 New Sanctions Targeting Russia’s Shipping To Cripple China’s Support

The US issued hundreds of new sanctions, mainly targeting Russia regarding the war in Ukraine in an action that was meant for Moscow’s evident circumvention of Western measures, including via China.

The US Treasury Department levied sanctions on almost 200 targets, while the State Department designated over 80 in one of the most wide-ranging actions against China’s firms in Washington’s sanctions specifically aimed at Russia.

The US levied sanctions on 20 firms based in Hong Kong and China, following repeated warnings from Washington about China’s support for the Russian military, including during the recent trips by Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the country.

China’s backing for Russia is one of the multiple issues threatening to sour the recent change in relations between the world’s greatest economies.

Yellen said in a statement that the treasury has been warning that the firms will encounter substantial consequences for delivering material support for Russia’s war, and the US is imposing them today on nearly 300 targets.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson associated with the Chinese embassy based in Washington, mentioned that the government oversees the export of dual-use articles in accordance with laws and regulations, adding that normal trade, as well as economic interactions between Russia and China, are in line with WTO rules and market regulations.

The US accused Russia of infringing a worldwide ban on chemical weapons.

The State Department expanded the targeting of Russia’s ability to ship liquefied natural gas, one of the country’s leading exports.

It also designated two vessel operators involved in transporting tech, including gravity-based structural equipment or concrete legs that support offshore platforms, for the Russian Arctic LNG 2 project.

Earlier, the US sanctions on Arctic LNG 2 last month compelled Novatek, the greatest LNG producer in Russia, to halt production at the project that suffered a deficiency of tankers to ship fuel.

The State Department informed that subsidiaries of Russian state nuclear power major Rosatom and 12 entities in the Sibanthracite group of firms, one of Russia’s biggest producers of metallurgical coal, were also targeted.

Washington levied sanctions on Russia’s air carrier Pobeda, a subsidiary of Aeroflot, a Russian airline.

The US Commerce Department has previously added over 200 Airbus and Boeing airplanes operated by Russian airlines to an export control list as part of the Biden administration’s sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Furthermore, the State Department targeted three individuals in relation to the death of Alexei Navalny, the late opposition leader of Russia, the best-known domestic critic of Vladimir Putin, who lost his life in February in one of Russia’s Arctic prisons.

Russian authorities have said that he died of natural causes.

His followers firmly believe that the authorities killed him — a claim the Kremlin vehemently denies.

Wednesday’s action targeted the correctional colony’s director, where Navalny was kept for the majority of his imprisonment term, as well as the heads of the solitary confinement detachment and the medical unit at the colony where he was locked until his death.

According to the State Department, the officers were in charge of the cells where Navalny had been in solitary confinement, the yard from where he was alleged to have fallen and died, and Navalny’s health, including following his collapse.

Reference: US Treasury

U.S Issues Over 300 New Sanctions Targeting Russia’s Shipping To Cripple China’s Support appeared first on Marine Insight – The Maritime Industry Guide

Source: Maritime Shipping News