US President Joe Biden is slated to sign an executive order on Friday authorizing Washington to slap penalties on financial institutions that assist Russia in evading sanctions, according to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
According to Yellen’s statement, the presidential order – a component of a larger American campaign against sanctions evasion by Moscow – will grant Washington the authority to outlaw goods that are originally from Russia but are processed in other nations, such as seafood and diamonds.
Concurrently, according to the Financial Times, the Group of Seven member nations are stepping up their attempts to reach a consensus on transferring a portion of the $300 billion in “immobilized” Russian central bank funds and other sovereign assets to Ukraine. These resources may help finance Ukraine’s defense and ultimate rebuilding while also pressuring Moscow to halt its full-scale invasion of the country, which has lasted for 21 months.
“Today we are taking steps to level new and powerful tools against Russia’s war machine,” Yellen stated. “And we will not hesitate to use the new tools provided by this authority to take decisive and surgical action against financial institutions that facilitate the supply of Russia’s war machine.”
The United States already targeted entities in the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, and other countries that it believes are assisting Moscow in avoiding the sanctions, warning companies that doing business with entities that are subject to U.S. prohibitions may result in their loss of access to G7 markets.
According to reports, the new order would provide Treasury and its partners with more means of pursuing the networks Moscow was attempting to set up in order to evade the sanctions by using front businesses and “witting and unwitting financial intermediaries”.
The executive order will also reportedly give Washington the authority to outlaw goods that were made in Russia but were “substantially transformed” outside of the nation, such as diamonds.
The move follows the announcement earlier this month by the Group of Seven nations of a phased-in limitation on indirect imports of Russian jewels beginning around March 1 and a straight ban on Russian diamonds beginning on January 1.
