US to impose sanctions on banks supporting Russian war | War Ukraine and Russia

US to crack down on foreign banks backing Russia's war in Ukraine President Joe Biden has signed an executive order giving the United States the power to do this.

The new measure is mainly aimed at Chinese banks. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, many Western companies have withdrawn from Russia. Chinese banks were willing to extend billions of dollars in loans to the Kremlin regime.

Banks responsible for this can be penalized through so-called secondary sanctions. They will not be fined, but they may be denied access to US financial markets.

“Sand in the Gears”

“What we want to do is target a commodity that Russia absolutely needs (…) to produce weapons. To get that commodity, they have to go through the financial system, which makes that system a potential hotspot,” a White House official said. “The goal is to throw sand into the gears of the Russian war machine and destroy the supply chain.”

According to the person responsible, previous sanctions had an effect, but the Kremlin is now finding ways to circumvent them. Many companies that have helped Russia with this have already been sanctioned. Americans also believe that European and American banks will put pressure on business partners operating in Russia.