US imposes new sanctions on Russia, Ukraine-related individuals, entities

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The US Treasury announced on Friday that it has added 21 individuals and nine entities related to Russia and Ukraine to its sanctions list.

The designated persons included several Russian officials, and high-level officials in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, said the Treasury in a statement.

Companies involved in building infrastructure in Crimea were among the ones targeted.

This action underscores the US government's opposition to Russia's occupation of Crimea and refusal to recognize its attempted "annexation" of the peninsula, said the Treasury.

As a result of the Treasury's action, any property or interests of the designated persons in the United States will be blocked and transactions by Americans involving these persons are generally prohibited.

The designation came as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Davos, Switzerland on Friday.

The main building of the Russian Foreign Ministry /AFP Photo

Crimea separated from Ukraine and rejoined Russia in March 2014 following a local referendum, with almost 97 percent of the residents voting for the reunification.

However, Western countries insisted that the peninsula was illegally annexed and they have imposed several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia since 2014.

Russia’s foreign ministry on Friday condemned the United State’s new economic sanctions against Moscow, labeling them “absurd” and reserving the right to a “response."

This “absurd sanctions campaign has not succeeded and will not lead to any results,” the ministry said in a statement.

“If the American authorities prefer to break economic ties... with Russia, it is their right, as it is ours to reserve the right to a response.”

Moscow said the new sanctions were imposed “under the pretext of inventing Russia’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis,” adding that the US is merely “showing the whole world its own powerlessness."

“Washington cannot shed the illusion that it is possible to scare us by refusing US visas or by trade bans,” the statement said.

Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency