President Joe Biden and G7 leaders met virtually with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Sunday to discuss further action by the United States and its allies to punish Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The announcement also included new export controls against the Russian industrial sector and about 2,600 visa restrictions for Russian and Belarusian employees, as well as the first sanctions against the leaders of Gazprombank, the institution through which most of Europe buys Russian gas.
“This is already a failure for Putin, and we will continue to honor the brave battles fought by the people of Ukraine, and we will listen to President Zelensky and commit to staying up to date,” the senior administration official told reporters ahead of the meeting. the president. meeting.
The official added that the call would also highlight how Russian President Vladimir Putin “disgraced” the sacrifices made by Soviet Russian citizens, millions of whom sacrificed their lives to defeat fascism during World War II.
“Putin is disgracing these victims by spreading his lies, his misinformation about the barbarism he is committing in Ukraine … This is really a chance to speak the truth and demonstrate our continuing unity,” he said.
“Taken together, today’s actions are a continuation of Russia’s systematic and methodical removal from the global financial and economic system. And the message is that there will be no safe haven for the Russian economy if Putin’s invasion continues,” the official told reporters.
The three television networks sanctioned by the United States are Russia’s First Channel, Russia-1 and NTV. Together, they received more than $ 300 billion in advertising revenue from Western countries last year alone, according to the official.
“We will not help them spread the lies and deceptions you hear from Putin every day,” the official said.
In particular, US legal services were not included in Sunday’s ban. The United States, according to the official, has decided to continue allowing the search for “due process”, but added that the government will continue to reassess this “every day” and is waiting to see what will happen after the initial ban on services. The official noted that the United Kingdom had not introduced such a ban either.
The official also noted that sanctions against Gazprombank executives are just that: actions against the leaders of the important financial institution, not a full sanction against the bank itself, with which Europeans must do business to continue buying Russian gas.
“This is not a complete block. We do not freeze Gazprombank’s assets and do not prohibit any transactions with Gazprombank. What we are signaling is that Gazprombank is not a safe haven. That’s why we are sanctioning some of the top business managers, they are the people who sit at the top of the organization to create a chilling effect, “said the employee.
The decision to restrict Russia’s exports of industrial products is intended to hamper the Kremlin’s industrial capacity and ability to wage war, just as Western restrictions on microchips limit Russia’s ability to produce precision-guided missiles, the official said.
In addition to the ban on exports of Russian industrial services, the United States also sanctioned Promtechnologiya LLC, which produces weapons, including rifles, used by Russian forces in Ukraine. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will also not authorize the export of uranium, plutonium or other nuclear-related products.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Sunday to discuss further sanctions against Russia and the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food security.
Kuleba tweeted that the United States was preparing “new strong sanctions” against Russia, adding that the two diplomats “discussed ways to unblock food exports from Ukraine and ways to ensure global food security.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
Devan Cole of CNN and Anastasia Graham Yul contributed to this report.
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