US and Russia go tit for tat in sanctions row
SANCTIONS against allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin were ramped up by the US government yesterday, targeting 20 more individuals and one of the country’s banks.
Bank Rossiya and the listed men join the US Treasury’s specially designated nationals list, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Their assets in the US will be frozen, and US citizens are “generally prohibited from dealing with them”. The list includes some of Putin’s aides, as well as Finnish national Gennady Timchenko, who runs a private investment firm called Volga group.
In retaliation, the Russian government announced sanctions against a number of US citizens including senator John McCain. Moscow also shuttered a chocolate factory in Russia owned by Petro Poroshenko, a Ukrainian politician and business leader.
Standard & Poor’s became the latest group to sour on Russia’s position yesterday, revising the country’s credit outlook to negative on “rising geopolitical and economic risks”, citing the potential for reduced investment and capital flight.