The United States has officially imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Similar actions were also taken by the European Union (EU) and the UK.
"President Putin and Secretary Lavrov are directly responsible for Russia's further unlawful and unwarranted invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign democratic country," the US Treasury said in a statement Friday. WIB. It is rare for the department to designate a head of state as a target for American sanctions.
Other Russian officials also targeted by Washington's sanctions are Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.
Eleven members of the Russian Security Council, including Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev did not escape the US sanctions.
"The United States will designate more in the future if Russia's unwarranted military campaign against Ukraine does not end soon," the Treasury said. The sanctions include freezing the US-based assets of those targeted.
American citizens are also prohibited from engaging in any transactions involving the property or interests of any of the sanctioned blacklisted individuals. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki hinted at a press conference earlier on Friday that the sanctions would include a travel ban to the United States.
However, the Treasury did not mention travel restrictions in its statement.
Meanwhile, the European Union also formally imposed sanctions on Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, accusing them of violating Ukraine's sovereignty after Moscow launched a military operation to support the two republics in eastern Ukraine that Putin had just recognized as independent.
EU sanctions typically take the form of asset freezes and travel restrictions, but it is not clear exactly what the latest actions will be for Putin and Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, as quoted by Russia Today, insisted that neither Putin nor Lavrov have assets outside Russia.
The 27-nation European Union has also blacklisted Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Security Council Deputy Chair Dmitry Medvedev and Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev.
Russian lawmakers who were not on the previous sanctions list have also been targeted. That's what EU policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after a meeting in Brussels on Friday.
"President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov are on the list of persons subject to sanctions along with the rest of the Duma [Russian Parliament] members who support this aggression," Borrell said.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer previously said the European Union would soon bring in the toughest package of sanctions directly targeting the Russian leader, though noting it would avoid a travel ban.
"Because it would not be appropriate if we wanted to give a chance for negotiations," he said. The previous round of EU sanctions announced Wednesday was imposed on other senior Russian officials, including Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and the presidential chief of staff Anton Vaino.
Other Western leaders have imposed a long list of sanctions on Moscow over its Ukraine operations, targeting key financial institutions and Russian citizens.
Britain, through British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had announced sanctions for Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday, while urging allies to cut Moscow off the SWIFT international payments network to inflict maximum pain on President Putin.