The Biden administration will announce new sanctions Wednesday that include a ban on new investment in Russia in response to atrocities in Ukraine, among them recent revelations of barbaric acts in the town of Bucha that “show further evidence of war crimes,” according to familiar sources with the decision.
The penalties, made in coordination with G7 and European Union allies, also involve increased sanctions on financial institutions and state-owned enterprises and also on Russian government officials and their family members.
A Biden administration official said the measures are designed to “degrade key instruments of Russian state power, impose acute and immediate economic harm on Russia, and hold accountable the Russian kleptocracy that funds and supports Putin’s war.”
As a result of sanctions on Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s economy is forecast to contract as much as 15% or more in 2022, according to the official.
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Latest developments
►The Pentagon announced late Tuesday that $100 million worth of Javelin anti-tank missiles will be sent to Ukraine to meet an urgent need, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.
►Russian forces are using banned anti-personnel mines as they pull back from cities in Ukraine, a Human Rights Watch report says.
►President Joe Biden approved a $100 million transfer of Javelin anti-armor missiles to Ukraine on Tuesday, according to an administration official. The transfer brings the total of US military assistance for Ukraine to $2.4 billion since Biden took office last January.
UN moving to suspend Russia from human rights council, US ambassador says
The UN Security Council fell silent Tuesday when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy played a video showing the destruction that had taken place in the city of Bucha over the previous weeks. The footage showed hundreds of dead bodies littering the streets: .
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia denied again that Russian troops had killed civilians, saying the killings were acts of Ukrainians. He said Russia didn’t come for Ukrainian land, but to bring peace to Donbas.
“To do so, it is necessary to root out the cruelty… and remove the Nazi malignant tumor that is devouring Ukraine and would have eventually begun to devour Russia,” Nebenzia said. “We will achieve this goal, hopefully, sooner rather than later.”
Russia holds special power on the Security Council: it is both a permanent member and holds veto power.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told Joy Reid on MSNBC Tuesday that although Russia is a member of the council, and “we can’t change that fact,” the UN “can certainly keep them isolated.”
The UN is moving forward to suspend Russia from the UN human rights council, Thomas-Greenfield said.
— Celina Tebor
www.usatoday.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism