President Barack Obama has announced further sanctions against prominent Russians and cleared the way for possible sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy in response to Moscow’s seizure of the Crimea region from Ukraine.
The US leader, speaking at the White House, also said Russia’s threats to southern and eastern Ukraine posed a serious risk of escalation of the crisis in the region.
The expansion of sanctions on Russians include 20 more people, some of whom are close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a senior Obama administration official said.
It also imposed sanctions on the Russian bank Bank Rossiya, which has $10 billion in assets, the official said. The bank, which is used by many senior Russian government officials, will be «frozen out of the dollar,» the official said.
Obama signed an executive order giving the US government wider authority to take action against the Russian financial services sector, energy, mining, engineering and defense sectors, the official said.
buenosairesherald.com