The administration said Treasury, Commerce and State departments would target government officials and leaders, family members and military officials.
A United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s “illegal, so-called » referendums in Ukraine, and calling on “all states” in the world not to recognize Russian annexation, failed to pass at the Security Council Friday following Russia’s veto.
Four nations — China, India, Brazil and Gabon — abstained from the vote, despite U.S. exhortations to “stand up and defend our collective beliefs.”
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote that “if Russia chooses to shield itself from accountability,” the United States would bring the matter before the 193 member nations of the U.N. General Assembly.
In March, 141 members voted to demand Russia stop its Ukraine offensive, while five voted against the resolution and 35 abstained, including many from Africa and the Mideast. Also speaking before the Friday vote, Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said it demonstrated that “some of our colleagues in the Council have reached a new low.”
Residents of the four Ukrainian regions where the staged referendums were held “do not want to return to Ukraine,” he said, but the votes have been widely condemned as illegal and manipulated shams. Nebenzya charged the United States, which authored the proposed resolution along with Albania, with “twisting arms” of other countries for support.
Earlier Friday, the Biden administration announced a new round of sanctions on Russia on Friday in response to Moscow’s illegal annexation of the four Ukrainian territories, imposing penalties on government officials and their family members, Russian and Belarusian military officials, and defense procurement networks.
The United States said it was sending a “clear warning” that there will be costs for any individual, entity or country that provides political or economic support to Russia. Three agencies — the Treasury, Commerce and State Departments — are imposing “swift and severe costs” on Russia, the administration said.
