President Joe Biden and the G-7 leaders are primed to announce yet another tranche of sanctions, export controls, and other new steps to “economically isolate” Russia‘s ability to wage war in Ukraine.
Biden traveled to Hiroshima, Japan, for the G-7 leaders summit on Wednesday and spent Thursday in meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
BIDEN’S STANDING QUESTIONED AS HE ARRIVES IN JAPAN FOR G-7
Biden was originally slated to travel to Australia and Papua New Guinea following his stay in Japan but cut the trip short in order to return for debt ceiling negotiations in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.
A senior Biden administration official briefed reporters on the new steps ahead of the announcement, which include the following five general areas:
- Efforts to further disrupt Russia’s ability to source inputs for the war
- Efforts to close existing sanctions evasion loopholes
- Additional steps to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian energy
- Continued efforts to “squeeze Russia’s access to the international financial system”
- Re-commitment to “keeping Russia’s sovereign assets immobilized until the end of the war”
In total, the new steps will add 70 entities from Russia and third-world countries to the Department of Commerce blacklist and more than 300 new sanctions “against individuals, entities, vessels, and aircraft” in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, though the senior Biden official declined to answer repeated questions about the specific entities targeted.
“As part of all of these efforts, you will see us take significant steps to align our actions even more closely with the ones imposed by the EU and the U.K. to ensure that as a G-7, we remain as coordinated as possible in response to Russia’s brutal actions,” the official concluded.
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This is a developing story and will be updated with new information as it becomes available.
