five questions about the largest round of US sanctions against Russia

“Vladimir Putin must pay a high price for his aggression against Ukraine”, wrote Joe Biden, a week after the death of Alexei Navalny and on the eve of the second anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. The President of the United States announced on Friday February 24 the largest round of American sanctions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to Washington, these sanctions target “individuals linked to Navalny’s imprisonment”but also the “Russian financial sector, defense industry, supply networks and sanctions evaders, across several continents”.

In total, the Treasury and State Department targeted more than 500 individuals and organizations in 26 countries, blocking their assets in the United States and restricting their access to visas. The Commerce Department also added 93 companies to its blacklist. Franceinfo takes stock of these new sanctions and those already imposed since the start of the war.

1 Why these new sanctions?

This new round of sanctions, the most significant since the start of the war, comes in response to the death of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, at the age of 47, in a penal colony where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence for ” extremism”. These measures are not “only the beginning”said John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. “You can count on more steps from the government to hold the Kremlin accountable for Navalny’s death.”

The main objective of the sanctions imposed by the United States nevertheless remains to limit the financial resources available to Moscow to finance the war against Ukraine. “We are taking steps to continue reducing revenues from Russia’s energy sector and I have asked my teams to step up support for civil society, independent media and all those fighting for democracy around the world”declared the President of the United States when announcing these new sanctions.

2 Who are they targeting?

Among the long list of entities sanctioned by the United States, technology companies in the semiconductor, optics, drones, and information systems sectors, and even an institute of applied mathematics. The Russian payment system Mir, which allows Russians to make payments and withdraw money in certain foreign countries, is also on the list. According to the US Department of the Treasury, its development “allowed Russia to build a financial infrastructure that allows it to evade sanctions and rebuild severed ties with the international financial system”.

Washington in fact claims to target “persons located outside of Russia who facilitate, orchestrate, participate in or otherwise support the transfer of critical technologies and equipment to the Russian military-industrial base”. US Treasury warns in statement that sanctions will continue to be imposed “to people, wherever they are, who enable Russia to reconnect to global financial markets using illicit channels”. Sanctions have thus been imposed against people who are notably in China or in Germany. The United States also sanctioned 14 oil tankers of a “ghost fleet” used by Russia to escape capped oil prices.

3 How is Russia reacting?

The Vice President of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev reacted to these new American sanctions by swearing that Russia would take revenge for Western sanctions. “That they [les Occidentaux] everyone is suffering there. We must remember that, we must take revenge on them wherever possible. They are our enemies.”wrote the former Russian president, accustomed to pro-war declarations, on Telegram messaging.

Dmitri Medvedev also called for secret operations to be carried out on the territories of Western countries, while Russia is already regularly accused of espionage operations, influence and assassinations or attempted assassinations and Moscow systematically denies them. . Must also “carry out activities of a certain type on their territories, about which we cannot speak publicly. In war as in war”he said.

4 Has Ukraine received other aid?

American sanctions are not isolated. Announcements of sanctions have multiplied in Western countries as the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine approaches. On February 21, the countries of the European Union agreed on a thirteenth package of sanctions, while the United Kingdom took measures against more than 50 personalities and companies. They also target “key sources of income for Russia”with the trade of metals, diamonds and energy resources, in order to “cut off funding for Putin’s illegal war from all sides possible”. The United Kingdom also announced new deliveries of missiles to the Ukrainians.

Ukraine welcomes these sanctions but above all calls for the delivery of new weapons to unblock the situation on the front, where the Russian army is making progress. “The most important thing is to unblock the skies. Air defense and aircraft will contribute to this”, believes Volodymyr Zelensky. While visiting Ukraine, Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would provide $2.2 billion in aid to Ukraine in 2024 as part of a bilateral security agreement. The Canadian Prime Minister also accused Vladimir Putin of being directly responsible for “murder” by Alexei Navalny.

5 Do these sanctions have any effect?

In total, more than 4,000 entities have been targeted by American sanctions since the start of the war. Added to this are those taken by other Western countries during these two years. As a reminder, the United States and its allies had imposed a series of sanctions at the start of the war aimed at weakening Russia’s economy. On March 10 and 11, 2022, European leaders adopted a fourth phase of sanctions at Versailles, the effects of which, six months later, on the Russian economy were felt. Two years later, European sanctions no longer seem to have the same impact, while Russia has completely reoriented its economy towards a war economy.

Despite the multitude of Western sanctions, Russia actually recorded growth of 3.6% in its GDP in 2023. For Janet Yellen, the American Secretary of the Treasury, Vladimir Putin “mortgaged the present and future of the Russian people” while “the Kremlin chooses to reorient its economy to manufacture weapons to kill its neighbors as quickly as possible, at the expense of the economic future of its own population”. When the twelfth package of European sanctions against it was announced, Russia announced its intention to circumvent them. This package of measures notably prohibited the import of Russian diamonds, considered by the Twenty-Seven as a source of financing for the Russian offensive in Ukraine.