The United States imposes new sanctions on Russia

Bidenadministrationen On Thursday, a series of new sanctions were imposed on Russia.

These are fairly ordinary sanctions similar to those that the United States and the European Union have imposed on Russia several times in recent years. There were sanctions for interfering in the US elections, escalation in Ukraine, and poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny – which Russia denied.

The United States expels ten Russian diplomats. In addition, 16 people and 16 Russian “units”, companies and institutions have been placed on the country’s sanctions list.

The United States wants to respond more harshly after last year’s advanced hacker attack on US IT security company Solarwinds and CIA information that Russia has offered to shoot people who killed the US military in Afghanistan.

Therefore, the Biden administration prohibits US banks and institutions from trading in newly issued government bonds from the Russian Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, and the Pension Fund.

The ban takes effect In June, so-called OFZ bonds equals 310 billion crowns, of which foreigners own the fifth, according to the New York Times.

The price of the popular OFZ bonds denominated in rubles has fluctuated in recent weeks due to concerns about a halt in trading in the US, which was introduced on Thursday.

US Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has repeatedly warned Russia that it will not be just sanctions but “a mixture of visible and invisible tools”.

Even before Thursday’s announcement from Washington, interest rates on Russian government bonds rose, while the Moscow Stock Exchange recorded the biggest drop since December, the news agency reported. Bloomberg. This is in line with what happened in previous sanctions.

However, the direct economic damage is limited for Russia, which has relatively small external debts that fill the treasury when oil prices rise.

Also the situation in Ukraine It remains a matter of dispute, seven years after Russia annexed Crimea and effectively seized two regions in eastern Ukraine. After the end of the year, new fighting broke out, with the wounded and dead, despite the ceasefire negotiated until July.

After information on large movements of Russian forces towards the border with Ukraine, Joe Biden held a conversation with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. According to the United States, there are 68,000 Russian soldiers in the region.

This week, NATO and the defense European Union also protested the gathering of Russian forces on the border.

The increasing unrest also affected the Ukrainian economy. The currency, the hryvnia, fell against the dollar while interest rates rose. On the other hand, the Kiev Stock Exchange is sniffing records.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has been hit hard by a new wave of coronavirus infections. On Thursday, the country recorded 16,427 new confirmed cases of corona and 433 deaths, according to the government agency Involved. It is higher than the peak last fall.

Announced on Wednesday Kiev mayor, former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, said that restrictions imposed on the city of nearly 3 million people will remain until at least April 30 to stop the virus.

So far, only 1% of Ukraine’s population has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Mikael Bjork