US sanctions China and India suppliers of Russia’s war machine in Ukraine

The US is sanctioning almost 400 individuals and companies in India, China and Turkey as part of a bid to crack down on a sprawling network that has helped keep Russia’s war machine running nearly three years into the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The list of targets includes companies in China, a US adversary that has openly helped President Vladimir Putin, as well as entities in countries that work with the US such as India, Turkey and Switzerland. That risks new friction with the very governments the US is hoping it can count on to further isolate Russia.

The US and its allies have piled thousands of sanctions on Russia since the invasion in February of 2022, yet the country’s GDP is projected to grow 3.5 per cent to 4 per cent in 2024.

The new actions are intended in part as a warning to countries outside the US and Russia about the risk of doing business with the Kremlin, a senior US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

“As evidenced by today’s action, we are unyielding in our resolve to diminish and degrade Russia’s ability to equip its war machine and stop those seeking to aid their efforts through circumvention or evasion of our sanctions and export controls,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.

Shreya Life Sciences, a pharmaceutical company based in India, is accused of sending Russia hundreds of shipments of US-trademarked technology, including advanced servers designed for artificial intelligence and machine learning. India has risen to become Russia’s No 2 supplier of critical goods in recent months, second only to China.