Russia vows 'painful' response to new U.S. sanctions over Ukraine
April 28, 2014 -- Updated 1643 GMT (0043 HKT)
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(CNN) -- The United States expanded its sanctions against Russia on Monday, targeting members of President Vladimir Putin's "inner circle" and technology that could be useful to Russia's military.
President Barack Obama said the "targeted" sanctions are in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine.
"The United States has
taken further action today in response to Russia's continued illegal
intervention in Ukraine and provocative acts that undermine Ukraine's
democracy and threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and
territorial integrity," the White House said in a statement. Since a
meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 17, Russia "has done nothing"
to meet its commitments "and in fact has further escalated the crisis," the White House said in a statement.
"The Department of the
Treasury is imposing sanctions on seven Russian government officials,
including two members of President Putin's inner circle, who will be
subject to an asset freeze and a U.S. visa ban, and 17 companies linked
to Putin's inner circle, which will be subject to an asset freeze.
"In addition, the
Department of Commerce has imposed additional restrictions on 13 of
those companies by imposing a license requirement with a presumption of
denial for the export, re-export or other foreign transfer of
U.S.-origin items to the companies."
Also, the departments of
Commerce and State are tightening their "policy to deny export license
applications for any high-technology items that could contribute to
Russia's military capabilities. Those Departments also will revoke any
existing export licenses that meet these conditions," the White House
said.
Russia: The U.S. won't 'impress its cronies'
Sergey Ryabkov, Russia's deputy minister for foreign relations, called the sanctions "meaningless, shameful, and disgusting."
"It will only intensify
all the processes in Ukraine which it intends to change or stop,"
Ryabkov told CNN, speaking English. "It is yet another sign of a
reckless behavior of the U.S. administration. No lessons are learned
from the past. The U.S. does literally nothing to impress its cronies
and clients in Kiev on whom there is full responsibility for constant
deterioration of the situation in Ukraine. This is what needs to be
changed and not the policy of Russia.
"A response of Moscow will follow, and it will be painfully felt in Washington D.C."
A senior Ukrainian
government official called the new sanctions "a very good step, but we
hope it's not the final step. Sector sanctions would be the really
painful measure."
The sanctioned include a Putin 'trusted ally'
The seven officials named are:
-- Oleg Belavantsev, Russia's envoy to Crimea.
-- Sergei Chemezov, who
oversees Russia's high-tech sector as head of state-owned corporation
Rostec and is "a trusted ally of Putin," according to the White House.
-- Dmitry Kozak, deputy prime minister.
-- Evgeniy Murov, director of Russia's Federal Protective Service.
-- Aleksei Pushkov, deputy of the State Duma.
-- Igor Sechin, president of Russia's leading petroleum company, Rosneft.
-- Vyacheslav Volodin,
Putin's first deputy chief of staff, one of the advisers who encouraged
Putin to move into Crimea, according to the White House.
Obama: This isn't personal
Earlier, speaking to
reporters in Manila, Philippines, Obama praised the Ukrainian government
for abiding by its agreements made in Geneva and operating "in good
faith."
The goal of the new
sanctions, he said, is not to go after Putin personally, but "to change
his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging
in in Ukraine could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over
the long haul -- and to encourage him to actually walk the walk and not
just talk the talk when it comes to diplomatically resolving the
crisis."
"There are specific
steps that Russia can take. And if it takes those steps, then you can
see an election taking place in Ukraine; you can see the rights of all
people inside of Ukraine respected."
If the latest round of sanctions don't work, the next phase could target sectors such as banking, Obama said.
EU sanctions coming
The European Union also
is expected to impose sanctions Monday on about 15 Russian officials who
are believed to be undermining democracy and creating chaos in Ukraine,
according to Western diplomats.
The sanctions will include asset freezes and travel bans.
The EU is not expected
to impose sanctions on Putin associates in part because the European
judiciary system has a much higher bar in terms of applying the law, the
diplomats said.
Judges are not able to
look at intelligence to sign off on the sanctions, they said. One
Western diplomat said there was also some division within the EU as to
whether sanctions against Putin's cronies should be imposed.
Several European
countries are also concerned that their economic interests would be
greatly affected by such sanctions. Additionally, some countries feel
more space should be given to diplomacy before such measures are
considered, the diplomat said.
Neither the United
States nor EU is ready to impose sanctions on Russian industries, like
the energy sector, both U.S. officials and Western diplomats said.
"Today's targeted
actions, taken in close coordination with the EU, will increase the
impact we have already begun to see on Russia's own economy as a result
of Russia's actions in Ukraine and from U.S. and international
sanctions," U.S.Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a statement.
"Russian economic growth forecasts have dropped sharply, capital flight
has accelerated and higher borrowing costs reflect declining confidence
in the market outlook."
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