Here's an item on more U.S. sanctions from RFE/RL's news desk:
The United States has imposed further Russia and Ukraine-related sanctions, including on Crimean port operators, former Ukrainian officials, and a former Russian gas trader.
The Treasury Department said on July 30 that it had placed the names of 26 individuals and entities on blacklists that freeze any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions.
The blacklists also ban Americans from doing business with them.
Officials said the list is intended to maintain the effectiveness of existing sanctions.
"Today's action underscores our resolve to maintain pressure on Russia for violating international law and fueling the conflict in eastern Ukraine," said John E. Smith, the director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Eight entities and individuals were targeted for providing support to Russian tycoon Gennady Timchenko, a prominent gas trader who was already sanctioned by the United States in March over Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.
The Treasury Department also said it targeted two entities that were providing support to Boris Rotenberg, a Russian businessman and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The list also includes Roman Rotenberg, his son.
Moreover, the list includes four former Ukrainian officials and their close associates linked to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was toppled by pro-European protests last year and is currently residing in Russia.
The four officials, who are already on the EU sanctions list, include: Andriy Petrovych Klyuyev, Sergey Vitalievich Kurchenko, Eduard Anatoliyovych Stavytsky, and the son of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych.
Five Crimean port operators and one ferry operator were sanctioned for working in the Crimea region.
Several entities, which are subsidiaries of previously sanctioned Russian state development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) and Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft, were named. They were already covered by the existing sanctions but they are now specifically named.
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