The White House unveiled measures to isolate Russia from the global financial, tech and trade system.
The United States said that it is imposing ‘severe’ economic sanctions on Russia in response to President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine, aimed at crippling the Russian economy, its financial institutions and its access to technology.
US President Joe Biden at the White House Thursday said: ” Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences.”
Russia’s stock market tumbled to its lowest level in four and a half years on Thursday, and its currency, the rouble, reached a record low versus the greenback.
Now, the even stricter measures aim to squeeze Russia’s economy, stifle its growth, increase borrowing costs, raise inflation and intensify capital outflows.
The Biden administration said in a statement Thursday afternoon that sanctions target all 10 of Russia’s largest financial institutions and impose export control measures that will more than halve Russia’s high-tech imports.
The moves include cutting off Russia’s largest bank from the US financial system and imposing sanctions on Russia’s second-largest bank, and freezing any of its assets touching the US financial system.
The sanctions on Russia’s top financial entities include the imposition of “full blocking and correspondent and payable-through account sanctions, and debt and equity restrictions, on institutions holding nearly 80 percent of Russian banking sector assets”, the White House said.
“The scale of Putin’s aggression and the threat it poses to the international order require a resolute response, and we will continue imposing severe costs if he does not change course,” the Biden administration added in a statement.
The US applauded Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, and the United Kingdom for having agreed to take “similarly forceful” actions against Russia.
