The United States announced this Sunday a new battery of sanctions against Russia within the framework of a meeting of the G7 leaders, in which the great industrial powers undertook to isolate even more to Moscow for the war in Ukraine.
The European countries of the G7 could not announce their own sanctions because the European Union (EU) was unable to reach an agreement this Sunday to ban oil imports from Russia due to the dependence of some partners on Moscow crude.
However, in a joint statement distributed by the White House, the G7 leaders reiterated their commitment to reduce dependence on Russian energy and stated that they will increase their campaign to further isolate the Russian economy with new measures against its financial sector.
The G7 meeting, which was held virtually, was attended by the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski.
Zelensky reaffirmed his intention to defeat the Russian troops and explained that Ukraine depends on its international partners, in particular the G7, to obtain sufficient military resources and so that the Ukrainian economy can recover after the destruction of the war, according to the White House.
In response, the G7 leaders reiterated their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and promised to take further action against the Kremlin.
Sanctions against Gazprombank executives
Despite the threats in the joint statement, the only country that announced sanctions this Sunday was The United States, which restricted access to visas for 27 directors of the Russian bank Gazprombank.
A senior US official explained to the press that the sanctions against Gazprombank executives seek to give a “warning” to the entity, a banking subsidiary of the Russian state gas company Gazprom and the only v authorized by the Kremlin for EU members to make their Russian gas payments.
However, since the sanctions are not directed against the bank itself but against its managers, European countries will be able to continue trading with Russia, said that source.
Washington also retaliated against eight senior officials of the entity Sberbank, the most important in Russia as it represents 37 % of its financial system.
In total, the United States announced this Sunday similar measures against 2,600 people who it claims are part of the Russian elite or are Russian or Belarusian officials, who allegedly have helped perpetrate aggression against the sovereignty of Ukraine or have violated human rights.
Remove the microphone from Putin’s propaganda “machine”
On the other hand, the US government took retaliation against three tea chains television: Channel One, Rossiya and NTV, the latter owned by the powerful communication group Gazprom-Media, itself a subsidiary of Gazprom.
Washington accuses the networks of having become part of Putin’s propaganda “machine”.
As a result of the sanctions, Those three stations will be prohibited from acquiring the technology they need to make their broadcasts, from cameras and microphones made in the US to sound equipment and lighting systems.
Furthermore, Washington announced sanctions against Promtekhnologiya, a company that produces weapons used by Russian troops in Ukraine, as well as against seven shipping companies that own or operate 69 ships and a maritime towage entity.
The sale to Russia by US companies of industrial materials that can be used for the war in Ukraine, such as bulldozers, mot industrial flowers, fans, boilers and wood products.
In addition, the Joe Biden administration decreed that companies may not provide accounting and advisory services to any Russian person or entity.
Symbolic gestures of solidarity with Ukraine
Beyond the US sanctions, several G7 countries expressed their solidarity with Ukraine by visiting the country by surprise, gestures of special symbolism coinciding with the called Victory Day, the anniversary of the Capitulation of the Third Reich and the defeat of Nazism.
For example , Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, visited the municipality of Irpin, in the kyiv region, accompanied by its mayor, Oleksandr Markushin, according to the Ukrainian portal Ukrinfrom.
Meanwhile, the President of the German Parliament (Bundestag), the Social Democrat Bärbel Bas, traveled to kyiv to participate in the commemorations of the end of World War II, becoming the first high-ranking figure from Germany to visit Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February.
On the other hand, the American first lady, Jill Biden, unexpectedly crossed the border between Slovakia and Ukraine to meet with the wife of the Ukrainian president, Olena Zelenska, in a show of solidarity that coincided with the celebration of Mother’s Day both in the US and in the Slavic country.
The G7 summit was announced on Friday by the German government, the country that holds the rotating presidency.
The Group of 7 (G7) was previously known as the G8, but Russia was expelled in 2014 after its annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
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