The US government confirmed this Friday that it will impose economic sanctions against the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, as well as the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, in response to the invasion of Ukraine, reported the press secretary of the House Blanca, Jen Psaki.
“The United States will join (with the European Union) to sanction Putin, Foreign Minister Lavrov, and the rest of the Russian security team,” Psaki said during his daily press conference.
The spokeswoman for the Biden Administration pointed out that the possibility of sanctioning Putin has existed for some time, but that the final decision of the US president was made today after talking with its European allies.
BREAKING: US will sanction Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, and members of the Russian national security team, White House press sec. Jen Psaki says.
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— ABC News (@ABC) February 25, 2022
Although the sanctions have not been disclosed in detail, Psaki announced that they will be prohibited from traveling to the United States.
Putin and Lavrov is prohibited from carrying out financial transactions with any US citizen, something that would make it difficult for him to access the international financial system, since it is drawn in dollars.
However, the Russian president will be able to continue traveling to the The central office of the United Nations, whose headquarters are in New York, where officials from nations previously sanctioned by Washington have been able to go, pointed out the EFE agency.
This type of sanctions, which have already been imposed in the past to North Korea, Iran and Venezuela officials, it usually serves to freeze their goods and financial assets.
This measure comes after the European Union (EU) announced the freezing of the financial assets of Putin and Lavrov in European territory.
Tensions that reached a breaking point
The level of tension escalated to its highest point when Putin announced on Wednesday to carry out a military operation in eastern Ukraine during a national message to defend the Donetsk separatists and Luhansk, whose independence was recognized by Russia.
In his message, he indicated that the operation in Donbass seeks to demilitarize and “denazify” the region, a situation that has caused widespread panic, and as a consequence, the death of at least 137 citizens and 316 wounded, according to data reported by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelen ski, who asked President Putin this Friday to negotiate to avoid more deaths.
“Russia will fight for the demilitarization and ‘denazification’ of Ukraine, and will judge those who committed crimes against peaceful citizens”, Putin said.
So far, the conflict between the two European nations has caused more 100,000 displaced, according to the United Nations (UN).
