On April 6, 2022, the United States announced a new wave of financial sanctions against Russia, targeting President Vladimir Putin’s family and major banks in response to evidence of war crimes in Ukraine. The United Kingdom and the European Union followed with their own penalties, escalating a coordinated Western campaign to cripple Russia’s economy. President Joe Biden stated the sanctions would impose a lasting penalty, while allies pressed forward amid growing outrage over civilian deaths in Bucha.
The us targets putin’s family and key banks
The U.S. sanctions singled out Putin’s adult daughters, Mariya Putina and Katerina Tikhonova, along with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and the wife and children of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Members of Russia’s Security Council, including former president Dmitry Medvedev, were also hit. The penalties freeze any assets these individuals hold in the United States and cut them off from the U.S. financial system.
Two of Russia’s largest banks, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, were blocked from using the U.S. financial system. Americans are now barred from doing business with those institutions. Biden signed an executive order banning new American investment in Russia, regardless of where investors live. The Treasury Department prepared further sanctions against Russian state-owned enterprises.
“We’re going to stifle Russia’s ability to grow for years to come,” Biden said. He acknowledged the war could continue for a long time but insisted the United States would stand with Ukraine.
Britain and the eu add their own penalties
Britain announced asset freezes against Sberbank and the Credit Bank of Moscow. It also designated eight Russian oligarchs whom the government says Putin uses to prop up his war economy. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said, “Together with our allies, we are showing the Russian elite that they cannot wash their hands of the atrocities committed on Putin’s orders.”
The U.K. pledged to end dependency on Russian coal and oil by the end of 2022. It has not yet ended imports of Russian natural gas, which accounts for 4% of its supply, saying only that it will do so as soon as possible.
The European Commission proposed a ban on coal imports from Russia, worth 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) per year. This would be the first EU sanctions targeting Russia’s energy industry. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc has already started working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports. She did not mention natural gas, as consensus among the 27 EU countries remains difficult due to opposition from gas-dependent members like Germany.
Evidence of atrocities drives tougher action
Videos and images of bodies in the streets of Bucha, a town recaptured from Russian forces, unleashed a wave of indignation among Western allies. The atrocities intensified pressure on Germany and other European nations to go further and join the U.S. and Lithuania in blocking all Russian energy exports.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said energy was key to Putin’s war coffers. He noted that because the war pushed prices higher, Russia benefited from selling natural gas and oil. “A billion euros is what we pay Putin every day for the energy he provides us since the beginning of the war. We have given him 35 billion euros. Compare that to the one billion that we have given to Ukraine in arms and weapons,” Borrell said.
The European Commission proposed a fifth package of sanctions, including the coal ban, which could be adopted once unanimously approved by the bloc’s ambassadors. Several European countries also announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats.
Economic pressure builds on russia
White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told reporters that the sanctions regime is working, even if the effects take time. “We need to have patience and perspective when it comes to the impacts on Russia of this unprecedented and crippling sanctions regime,” Deese said at an event sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor.
Deese noted that Russian inflation is running at 2% weekly, which would compound to annual inflation above 200%. He said the Biden administration expects Russian prices will not ultimately rise more than 200% this year. The White House has said Russia should not attend the G-20 meeting in Indonesia this November. Deese suggested Russia may drop out of the organization anyway because its economy has shrunk so dramatically.
The steady intensifying of sanctions reflects building pressure against Russia as it seeks foreign investment and basic goods. While the penalties have not forced Putin out of the war, they have put Russia in increasingly desperate economic circumstances as Ukrainian forces withstand his barrages.
The unity between the U.S. and European nations has been key to the sanctions’ effectiveness. But the war is far from over. Biden cautioned that Russia has already failed in its initial war, with its forces turned back from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Yet the fight continues, and the West shows no signs of easing the pressure.
