The U.S. Department of Treasury has imposed sanctions on the head of the Russian Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, along with other figures.
Al Jazeera revealed the names of the individuals subjected to U.S. and European sanctions today. The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Russian Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov. Additionally, sanctions were imposed on the Russian Attorney General Igor Krasnov and former Prime Minister Sergey Kiriyenko.
The American administration approved a package of sanctions that includes Russian institutions and officials that Washington considers linked to the case of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Reuters quoted a senior Biden administration official in a phone briefing to reporters today stating that the U.S. decided to impose sanctions on seven senior Russian government officials, tighten export restrictions to Russia, and blacklist 14 institutions.
The official explained that these sanctions are part of the strong response from the United States to the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Department of Treasury is imposing sanctions on seven senior Russian officials, joining the efforts of the State Department and the Department of Commerce as part of these measures.
The U.S. official revealed that a list of 14 institutions subject to the largest export restrictions will be published today in the Federal Register, noting that 9 are Russian, 3 are from Germany, and one from Switzerland, with the latter being a Russian government research institute. The official indicated that all of them are involved in activities that contradict U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.
The U.S. official emphasized that sanctions on Russian entities and individuals were coordinated with the European Union in light of the Navalny case. He confirmed that U.S. policies toward Russia will differ from those of the previous administration. The official underscored that intelligence assessments concluded that Russian authorities are behind the poisoning of Navalny with a nerve agent.
The announcement of the U.S. sanctions came just minutes after the European Union took similar action, announcing sanctions against four senior officials in Russian law enforcement agencies.
