U.S. Imposes Sanctions Over Russia’s Intervention in Ukraine
2015/12/30 17:31:36 Source：The New York Times
HONOLULU — The Obama administration on Tuesday sought to tighten economic pressure on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, imposing sanctions on dozens of individuals and companies it said were circumventing American and international restrictions.
Most of those targeted by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control were associates or bank subsidiaries of people or companies that have already been sanctioned. Officials said the action should serve as a signal that the United States will continue to lean on Moscow to honor a peace agreement brokered early this year in Belarus and allow Ukraine to control its side of its border with Russia.
“It is critical that Russia takes the steps necessary to comply with its obligations under the Minsk Agreements and to ensure a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine,” John E. Smith, the acting OFAC director, said in a statement.
“By more closely matching our designations with those of our international partners and thwarting attempts to evade sanctions, we are once again demonstrating the United States’ unwavering resolve to pressure Russia to respect the security and sovereignty of Ukraine,” Mr. Smith added.
These are the first new United States measures on Russia since July 30, and they come just days after the European Union renewed its sanctions for six more months, a coordinated action intended to show that any cooperation with Russia in Syria will not mean any trade-off in the confrontation over Ukraine.
The administration targeted 34 people or companies for sanctions, including 14 that Treasury said had ties to entities already under American and international restrictions or had “engaged in serious and sustained evasion of existing sanctions,” a half-dozen Ukrainian separatists, and a dozen doing business in Crimea. It also sanctioned two people who served in the government of Viktor F. Yanukovych, Ukraine’s former pres
