Russia has vowed to respond to a new raft of “aggressive” sanctions imposed by the United States mainly aimed at weakening the Russian military.
On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department significantly expanded sanctions against Russia, which now encompass China-based firms that supply semiconductors to Moscow, as part of the US strategy to weaken the Russian military's operations against Ukraine.
One of the measures announced by the US Treasury involves heightening “the potential consequences for foreign financial institutions engaging with Russia’s wartime economy,” essentially warning them of potential exclusion from the US financial system.
Later in the day, the Kremlin responded to Washington’s new move, vowing retaliation.
“As always in such cases, Russia will not leave such aggressive actions unanswered,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by the state-run TASS news agency.
The US sanctions list now encompasses more than 30 individuals and over 200 legal entities from both Russia and China.
Specifically, the US Treasury has applied sanctions to Rusgazdobycha, Arctic LNG-1, Arctic LNG-3, and the Moscow Exchange.
In February 2022, Moscow launched its special military operation in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region to stop NATO’s eastward expansion after warning that the US-led military alliance was pursuing an “aggressive line” against Russia.
The West responded by imposing waves of harsh sanctions against Russia and pouring advanced arms and military hardware into Ukraine.
Russia has time and again cautioned that continued Western military support to Ukraine and the sanctions could prolong the conflict.