The Biden administration needs to more quickly impose powerful, multilateral sanctions against Russia for threatening further military actions in Ukraine, security experts said. But coordinated sanctions with Europe could be challenging, the experts said, and may not deter Russia if the restrictions are enacted too late.
Russia has imposed travel bans on a "proportionate number of British representatives who are deeply involved in anti-Russian activities" in response to the U.K.'s designation of seven Russian citizens over the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced Dec. 17. Russia did not specify which individuals it listed. The foreign ministry said it considers the U.K.'s latest sanctions move to be "practical confirmation of the British government's intention to continue its destructive course in bilateral affairs."
The Commerce Department published its fall 2021 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including a new mention of an export control rule for crime-control items and a rule that would reorganize provisions of the foreign direct product rule in federal regulations.
The Court of Odense, Denmark, fined bunker fuel supplier Dan-Bunkering over $4.5 million for violating European Union sanctions when it sold 172,000 tons of jet fuel for use in Syria between 2015 and 2017, the EU Sanctions blog reported Dec. 18. The court also fined Dan-Bunkering's parent company, Bunker Holding, over $600,000 and sentenced Bunker Holding's CEO to four months in prison for the sanctions violations. Authorities seized over $2.3 million in profits from Dan-Bunkering. The court said the company intentionally violated the sanctions since it must have known that the Russian military would use the jet fuel in Syria. The sales were made to two Russian entities in 33 transactions.
New U.S. and European sanctions against Belarus could have broad implications for companies doing business in the region and could signal more multilateral sanctions in the coming months, law firms said this month. The U.S.’s recent restrictions are particularly noteworthy because of a strict new prohibition on certain transactions involving Belarusian sovereign debt, the firms said.
The U.S. will impose “severe economic and financial consequences,” including new sanctions, if Russia further invades Ukraine, a senior administration official told reporters Dec. 17. The comments came days after the G-7 countries and the European Union threatened “massive consequences” against Russia and after the EU said it is working with the U.S. on a new round of coordinated sanctions (see 2112130007). “We are in the process of preparing severe consequences that would result if Russia decides to take the path of further aggression,” the official said, adding that they are “largely” financial measures. “We are prepared to consider a number of things that we had not considered in the past, and the results will be very profound on the Russian Federation.” Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., also said the U.S. will likely impose more severe sanctions if Russia pursues more military action in Ukraine. “We certainly need to do what we can to protect Ukraine and let the Russians know that we're not going to accept their aggression,” Cohen, a Helsinki Commission member, said during a Dec. 16 commission hearing. “I think it'd be a mistake for them to go to war, but they may, and we need to be swift to respond with sanctions.” The leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee also said the U.S. should prepare multilateral sanctions against Russia (see 2112130044).
The European Union imposed sanctions against the Wagner Group, a "Russia-based unincorporated private military entity," the European Council said in a Dec. 13 press release. Including an asset freeze and travel ban, the restrictive measures apply to the Wagner group itself along with eight individuals and three entities related to the group. The EC declared that the Wagner Group has trained and sent private military operatives to hot spots around the world to "fuel violence, loot natural resources and intimidate civilians in violation of international law." Areas where the Wagner Group have operated include Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic and the Sahel region. The sanctions were arranged under four different sanctions regimes: the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime; the sanctions regimes for Libya and Syria; and the regime for undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity, the EC said.
The U.S. may need to consider new multilateral sanctions against Russia for its continued military aggression in Ukraine, the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Dec. 13. Committee Chair Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and ranking member Michael McCaul, R-Texas., said the U.S. can make “no concessions” for Russia at the “expense” of Ukraine’s sovereignty. “We stand ready to work with the Administration and our transatlantic allies to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the lawmakers said, “including by imposing serious new sanctions on Russia should it continue its invasion into Ukraine.”
The G-7 countries, along with the European Union, said Russia will see “massive consequences and severe cost in response” if it pursues further military actions in Ukraine, in a statement Dec. 13. While the countries didn’t specifically mention sanctions, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said he is working with the U.S. and the U.K. on potentially imposing a new set of designations. “We are studying together with the U.S. and the U.K. what [sanctions] could be, when and how, in a coordinated manner,” Borrell told reporters Dec. 13, according to Reuters. The G-7 countries called on Russia to “de-escalate, pursue diplomatic channels, and abide by its international commitments on transparency of military activities” or risk countermeasures. “We will intensify our cooperation on our common and comprehensive response,” the countries said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed investment restrictions on SenseTime Group Ltd., a major Chinese technology company, and sanctioned 15 people and 10 other companies for human rights abuses, the agency said Dec. 10. SenseTime, which had prepared to price shares Dec. 10 in its initial public offering in Hong Kong, will now be subject to a U.S. investment ban and added to OFAC’s list of companies with ties to China’s military (see 2106030067).