[1/4] U.S. President Joe Biden attends a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (not pictured) ahead of the G7 summit at the RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima on May 18, 2023 in Hiroshima, Japan.
HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 19 (Reuters) – The United States and the “Group of Seven” major economies will unveil new sanctions and export restrictions targeting Russia’s war on Ukraine, a U.S. official said. Japan.
G7 leaders gathered in Hiroshima on Friday with the invasion of Ukraine, now in its second year, high on the agenda. The United States has advanced tough economic sanctions against Russian companies, banks and individuals, and the upcoming announcement is designed to reaffirm the resolve of world powers to support Ukraine and pressure Moscow.
Speaking to reporters Thursday ahead of the meeting, a U.S. official said the G7’s latest efforts are aimed at disrupting Russia’s ability to get supplies to the battlefield, closing loopholes used to evade sanctions, further reducing international confidence in Russian energy and narrowing Moscow’s access to the international financial system.
“Our commitment to continuing to tighten the screws on Russia remains as strong as last year,” the official said.
The United States and its allies, including the European Union and Britain, have continued to increase economic sanctions and export-control pressure on Russia since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin, the financial sector and oligarchs.
Washington has been cracking down on sanctions evasion in recent months, focusing more on dual-use goods that have both commercial and military applications.
The latest set of U.S. sanctions includes “extensive restrictions on a variety of items critical to the war zone” and will prevent U.S. exports from receiving U.S. exports by adding about 70 companies from Russia and third countries to the U.S. Commerce Department’s blacklist.
In addition, the United States will announce about 300 new sanctions against “financial facilitators,” individuals, companies, ships and aircraft across Europe, the Middle East and Asia that support Russia’s future energy extraction capabilities and war.
US sanctions powers will be extended to many sectors of the Russian economy.
The US official said Washington would take significant steps to align its activities more closely with the EU and Britain to ensure the G7 is as coordinated as possible in response to “Russia’s brutal actions”.
Reporting by Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt in Hiroshima, Japan; Additional reporting by Daphne Saletakis and Susan Hevey in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons and Mark Heinrich
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