WASHINGTON – The United States, in coordination with the G7 and European Union, will ban “all” new investments in Russia today in its latest round of sanctions, a source said.
The joint measures, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and alleged carrying out of atrocities, “will include a ban on all new investment in Russia, increased sanctions on financial institutions and state-owned enterprises in Russia, and sanctions on Russian government officials and their family members,” the source familiar with the sanctions said yesterday.
Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the latest punishment of Russia’s economy has been triggered by alleged evidence of executions and other atrocities committed against civilians in areas recently abandoned by Russian troops in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
“We had already concluded that Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine, and the information from Bucha appears to show further evidence of war crimes,” a source said.
The new sanctions “will impose significant costs on Russia and send it further down the road of economic, financial, and technological isolation,” the source said.
“These measures will degrade key instruments of Russian state power, impose acute and immediate economic harm on Russia, and hold accountable the Russian kleptocracy that funds and supports” the war.
The source predicted that Russia’s economy would shrink by as much as 15% this year.
“This economic collapse of Russia’s GDP will wipe out the past 15 years of economic gains in Russia,” the source said. – AFP, April 6, 2022
