The United States said Thursday it had imposed sanctions on more than 150 companies and individuals, from Russia to Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Georgia, to crack down on sanctions evasion and cut off the Kremlin's access to technology, money and financial channels that help Russian leader Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.
It is one of the largest sanctions packages ever imposed by the State Department and the Treasury Department, and the latest to sanction individuals and companies in countries, including NATO member Turkey, that sell Western technology to Russia, which could use it. for the war.
The sanctions aim to disrupt both the development of Russia's energy sector and future sources of cash, including natural gas projects in the Arctic, as well as mining and factories that make and repair Russian weapons.
"The goal of this move is to limit Russia's defense production capacity and to reduce the liquidity with which it pays for its war," James O'Brien, who heads the State Department's sanctions coordination office, told the Associated Press.
America has imposed punitive measures against a start-up company from the United Arab Emirates, which is providing engineering services and technology for a Russian liquefied natural gas project in the Arctic, as well as several companies involved in its development.
Putin wants the project to produce more liquefied natural gas, which would make Russia a bigger player in the energy market. In July, Putin toured a liquefied gas production site in Russia's far north and said it would have a positive effect on "the entire economy."
The sanctions package also includes several Turkish and Russian companies that the State Department says help Moscow obtain American and European electronic components - such as computer chips and processors - that can be used in civilian and military equipment.
Turkish companies that provided ship repair services to a company linked to the Russian Defense Ministry were also fined.
Before the war, according to O'Brien, Russia imported up to 90 percent of its electronics from the G7 member countries, but because of the sanctions, that dropped to 30 percent. In his opinion, the sanctions are effective and limit Russia's war production capacities.
"Russia is trying to run a full war production economy, but it's extremely difficult to do that with clandestine, sporadic purchases of small amounts of equipment from different places around the world," O'Brien said.
However, analysts say Russia still has significant financial reserves for the war and it is possible for Moscow to import the necessary technology in small quantities to maintain defense production.
"Russia could probably fill a large suitcase with enough electronic components for a year's production of cruise missiles," says Richard Connolly, an expert on the Russian defense sector and economy at risk assessment firm Oxford Analytica.
Connolly also points out that Russia imports a large number of electronic components from Belarus, and that the country will continue to do so "as long as (President Alexander) Lukashenko is in power."
Both Turkey and the United Arab Emirates condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but did not join Western sanctions and continued to maintain ties with Russia.
Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said trade between Russia and the United Arab Emirates will increase by 68 percent to 9 billion in 2022, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
Despite the fact that some countries continue to cooperate with Russia, the State Department believes that the sanctions are producing results, O'Brien points out and notes that "success is measured on the battlefield." “Ukraine can shoot down most of what Russia fires, and that tells us there's a gap. Remains from the battlefield show us that Russia uses electronics with less capacity, and sometimes there is none at all," the State Department official points out.
Despite this, Russia launches daily missile attacks on Ukraine, including two in the past week that have killed at least 23 people.
The latest package of sanctions also targets several Russian companies that repair, develop and manufacture weapons, including the Kalibr cruise missiles. But to really tighten the noose around Russia, analysts say Western companies should think twice before selling key technology to countries known to resell it to Russia.
"We need to make more efforts when it comes to companies in our countries to ensure that they are not supplying the re-export market. Many of them celebrate the increase in sales to the United Arab Emirates or Turkey and do not realize, or choose to ignore, that this encourages re-exports, and that it's not a genuine business in the Emirates or Turkey," says Tom Keating, director of the Center for Financial Crime and Security Research at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
The Emirates claim to comply with international laws when it comes to money laundering and sanctions. However, they are on the "grey list" of international organizations due to concerns that it is not doing enough to stop criminals and extremists hiding wealth in the country.
Turkey, on the other hand, tries to balance its close relations with Russia and Ukraine, and positions itself as a mediator. It is dependent on Russian energy and tourism, but Turkish state banks suspended transactions through the Russian Mir payment system last year due to the threat of US sanctions.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US has sanctioned almost 3.000 companies and individuals. “The United States and its allies and partners are united in support of Ukraine in light of Russia's unjustified, illegal and unprovoked war. We will be with Ukraine as long as it takes," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement.
The State Department also sanctioned a Russian national linked to the Wagner mercenary group, which facilitated the delivery of North Korean weapons to Russia.
A Russian oligarch, whom the State Department says has personal ties to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and organized crime, was also punished. Sanctions have also been introduced against members of the Russian intelligence services, and an oligarch of Georgian-Russian descent who US authorities allege worked with Russia's Federal Security Service to influence Georgian society and politics in Russia's favor.
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