The White House said the United States and its Western allies are announcing additional sanctions against Russia this week. That should happen on Thursday, when US President Joe Biden meets with NATO and the European Union in Brussels, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.
According to the safety advisor, this relates to a subsequent penalty package. An important part of that, Sullivan said, is the tightening of existing sanctions to make it more difficult for Moscow to circumvent the sanctions.
Sullivan declined to provide further details. But the American media reported that it was about imposing sanctions on hundreds of members of the State Duma, according to correspondent Jan Postma. More than 300 members are on the list. There were already sanctions against twelve members. Another 100 Russians will be added to the sanctions list.
Postma continues: ‘There are already a lot of sanctions. We are almost punished. However, according to Postma, the Russian economy has not yet been affected by the current sanctions as desired. This is of course because we continue to buy Russian gas in Europe. Something very sensitive within the European Union. Biden knows that, too. That is why they want to look this week at how to apply other sanctions more effectively. For example, family members of those targeted with sanctions are also included in the list,” Postma says.
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severe economic sanctions
Russian correspondent Jost Bosman also expects tougher economic sanctions. “This will hit hard in Russia.”
Bosman spoke to a freelance journalist yesterday who lost her two jobs. She does not know how to see her future. She also said that her friends and acquaintances are trying to escape to Europe and that people are even trying to have marriages of convenience in Europe to get out of Russia. It shows how serious the situation here is already after a month in Russia, says Bosman.
