The US has unveiled new sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, targeting three Russian television stations as well as executives from Gazprombank, and banning Americans from providing accounting and consultancy services to Russians.
The latest round of sanctions are intended to further increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after previous punitive measures failed to deter him from continuing the attack on his neighboring country.
The US announcement is expected to be followed in the coming days by an agreement on new European Union sanctions announced on May 4th, with the EU set to impose a ban on Russian oil imports.
The targeted TV stations are Channel One Russia, Russia-1, and NTV, all said by the US to be state-owned either directly or indirectly. Under the new measures US citizens and businesses will be forbidden from advertising with the stations, denting their revenue streams.
Gazprombank has been excluded from previous sanctions due to fears any measures against the bank might disrupt gas supplies to Europe. The Biden administration has kept this in mind with the latest package, ensuring to only target executives in an individual capacity rather than the operations of the firm itself.
“This is not a full block. We’re not freezing the assets of Gazprombank or prohibiting any transactions with Gazprombank,” a White House official told reporters. “What we’re signaling is that Gazprombank is not a safe haven, and so we’re sanctioning some of their top business executives to create a chilling effect.”
US citizens will also be prohibited from providing accounting, trust and corporate formation, and management consulting services to Russian businesses and individuals, although the provision of legal services is permitted.