US slaps tough economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine

The US today imposed tough economic sanctions on Russia, including measures against its largest bank, several state-owned defence technology and energy companies, for allegedly supporting separatists in Ukraine.
The tough economic sanctions comes a day after US President Barack Obama made an announcement in this regard.
The US actions followed similar sanctions imposed by European Union to put pressure on the Russian economy over the country's alleged interference in Ukraine.
The American action targets Sberbank of Russia -- the largest Russian bank -- deepens existing sanctions on Russian financial institutions, expands sanctions in Russia's energy sector and targets additional energy- and defense-related Russian entities.

"Today's actions demonstrate our determination to increase the costs on Russia as long as it continues to violate Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen.
"The United States, in close cooperation with the European Union, will impose ever-increasing sanctions that further Russia's isolation from the global financial system unless Russia abandons its current path and genuinely works toward a negotiated diplomatic resolution to the crisis," Cohen said.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew determined that persons operating within Russia's defence and related materiel sector may now be subject to targeted sanctions.
The Treasury has imposed sanctions, which prohibit transactions by US persons or within the United States involving new debt of greater than 30 days maturity issued by Rostec, a major Russian conglomerate that operates in the defense and related materiel sector.

It also added Russia's largest bank to the existing prohibitions on US persons providing equity or certain long-term debt financing.
It designated and blocked the assets of five Russian state-owned defence technology firms -- Dolgoprudny Research Production Enterprise, Mytishchinski Mashinostroitelny Zavod, Kalinin Machine Plant JSC, Almaz-Antey GSKB, and JSC NIIP - for operating in the arms or related materiel sector in Russia.