Amid the United States imposing a number of sanctions on Russia over its decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has retaliated similarly by imposing personal sanctions against US President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and several other top government officials.
As per the statement released by the foreign ministry of Russia, stating that the move was in response to a “series of unprecedented sanctions” that includes barring top Russian officials from entering the US.
Meanwhile, the list of other officials, including US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, and US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley figure, was among those hit by Russia’s reciprocal measures.
In the wake of Russia launching a “special military operation in Kyiv”, the US, the European Union and several other countries have announced a series of sanctions to cripple the economic and logistic base upon which the Kremlin is building the invasion.
Washington, in particular, aimed to hit Moscow where it hurt. Sanctions imposed by the US have had far-reaching consequences on Russian trade, financial systems, military and currency.
The US is banning all Russian oil and gas imports, which Biden termed as the “the main artery of Russia’s economy”. All Russian flights have been banned from American airspace.
Assets belonging to Putin and his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are also being frozen.
Moreover, the US has imposed sanctions on hundreds of members of the Russian regime, and wealthy business leaders known as oligarchs, who are considered close to President Vladimir Putin.
On the other hand, Russia has banned exports of more than 200 products until the end of 2022. It has stopped foreign investors who hold billions of dollars worth of Russian stocks and bonds from selling them.
Moscow has also warned that it could shut off gas supplies in response to oil sanctions.
