One more point. The United States stepped up economic and financial pressure on Russia by announcing new sanctions on Wednesday, April 6. This decision, immediately followed by the United Kingdom, comes after the international shock caused by the images of the corpses of civilians slaughtered in the municipality of Boutcha†
“Major war crimes” are perpetrated by Russian troops, President Joe Biden has emphasized. At a symbolic level, the US Treasury Department targets Vladimir Putin’s two daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, the wife and daughter of Secretary of State Sergey Lavrov and, finally, all (twenty-one) members of the Council for National safety . Without revealing details, the Biden administration believes that many of the Russian president’s assets… “hidden” in his family circle.
In all, 140 businessmen and members of their entourage, as well as 400 Russian officials, are already on the US sanctions list. A way to make these elites radioactive and, it is hoped, in Washington, limit their ability to travel and enrich themselves. “Our eyes are on every yacht and jetexplained the assistant attorney general, Lisa Monaco. Our eyes are on every piece of art and real estate bought with black money and every bitcoin wallet filled with the proceeds of theft or other crimes. †
Despite these proactive remarks, questions about US sanctions, which have been decided in close cooperation with European allies, are growing. The preservation of Russian revenues in the energy sector as a result of European indecision, the massive intervention of the Russian central bank in support of the ruble, which returned to the pre-war exchange rate against the dollar, as well as the rigorous alignment of the elites behind the Kremlin in the name of a so-called mission “existential” in Ukraine do not seem to be creating a crisis sufficient incentive to end the war in the short term.
For 70% of Americans, Russia is a hostile country
Once again, it is the Russian financial sector that is being targeted by the US government, to raise the price of the invasion, if not to prevent it. “The reality is that the country is sinking into economic, financial and technological isolation. a senior official explained to the press on Wednesday. At this rate, he will return to the Soviet-type living standards of the 1980s.” Two institutions are in the firing line this time, Sberbank and Alfabank. Any citizen or entity in the United States is prohibited from making the slightest transaction with them, regardless of currency. “Sberbank is the main artery of the Russian financial system, said the senior US official. It alone owns a third of the banking sector’s assets, or more than $500 billion. [460 milliards d’euros]† †
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