US sanctions hundreds of companies for helping Russia – DW – 05/02/2024
The United States launched a new round of sanctions this Wednesday (05/01/2024) against hundreds of companies, including several Chinese companies, which it has accused of helping Russia in its war against Ukraine.
“The nearly 300 targets of these sanctions include actors who have allowed Russia to acquire essential technology and equipment overseas,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
The announcement further said, “Today’s action will further disrupt and weaken Russia’s war effort by attacking its military industrial base and the piracy networks that support its supply.”
As part of the measures, the US on Wednesday held several Chinese companies responsible for the production and export of “items essential for the Russian air defense industry”.
In return, Treasury also sanctioned more than 80 companies accused of helping Vladimir Putin’s government evade sanctions or supporting the Russian chemical and biological weapons program.
The statement detailed that these include companies based in China, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Turkey, Slovakia and the United Arab Emirates.
According to a State Department document, Russia has regularly used the chemical chloropicrin, as well as pepper spray, against Ukrainian troops, which would be against the Chemical Weapons Convention.
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The United States said, “The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is likely motivated by the desire of Russian forces to drive Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and gain a tactical advantage on the battlefield.”
The package of measures also includes sanctions against three individuals whom the United States has accused of being connected to the death of Russian rival Alexei Navalny.
Those identified are all workers from the IK-3 and IK-2 peninsulas in the Arctic city of Jarp, where the politician died under circumstances that are still unclear.
The announced measures come days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s official visit to China, where he asked Beijing “not to help Russia” by blocking it from supplying components used in the war against Ukraine. given.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, China has maintained an ambiguous stance in which it has called for respecting “the territorial integrity of all countries”, including Ukraine, and paying attention to the “legitimate concerns of all countries”. Russia.
MG (EFE, DPA)