US Treasury targets Russia’s Gazprombank with new sanctions

The US imposed fresh sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, wielding its most powerful sanctioning tool against the bank as US President Joe Biden steps up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before leaving office in January. The move effectively kicks Gazprombank – one of Russia’s largest banks – out of the US banking system, bans their trade with Americans and freezes their US assets.

Gazprombank is partially owned by Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom. Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been urging the US to impose more sanctions on the bank, which receives payments for natural gas from Gazprom’s customers in Europe.

The fresh sanctions come days after the Biden administration allowed Kyiv to use US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine fired the weapons, the longest range missiles Washington has supplied for such attacks on Russia, on the war’s 1,000th day.

The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country’s connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war.

It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks “entails significant sanctions risk”.

“This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade US sanctions and fund and equip its military,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “We will continue to take decisive steps against any financial channels Russia uses to support its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine.”

Gazprombank and the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.