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The United States marked the first anniversary of Russia’s war with Ukraine on Friday by announcing new sanctions against Russia and its allies, new export controls, and tariffs aimed at undermining Moscow’s ability to wage war.
Washington also said it would provide another $2 billion in weaponry for Kyiv as it prepares for a spring offensive. The aid did not include the F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine requested.
President Joe Biden was to consult leaders of the G7 and Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelenskiy at 9 a.m. (1400 GMT) to discuss what more aid can be provided to the Ukrainians.
The United States joined with G7 allies with plans to impose sanctions that will target 200 individuals and entities and a dozen Russian financial institutions.
They planned to form an “Enforcement Coordination Mechanism,” at first chaired by the United States, to counter Russian efforts to circumvent the sanctions.
The sanctions are aimed at targets in Russia and “third-country actors” across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East that are supporting Russia’s war effort, the White House said in a fact sheet.
“We will sanction additional actors tied to Russia’s defense and technology industry, including those responsible for backfilling Russian stocks of sanctioned items or enabling Russian sanctions evasion,” it said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the department on Friday was imposing “significant sanctions” targeting Russian individuals, firms and financial institutions but did not offer more detail, telling MSNBC: “We continue to ramp up the sanctions as we see ways to strengthen them and to diminish evasion.”
Biden was also set to sign proclamations to raise tariffs on Russian products imported to the United States. They will result in increased tariffs on more than 100 Russian metals, minerals, and chemical products worth about $2.8 billion to Russia.
“It will also significantly increase costs for aluminum that was smelted or cast in Russia to enter the U.S. market in order to counter harm to the domestic aluminum industry,” the White House said.
The U.S. Commerce Department will impose export controls on nearly 90 Russian and third-country companies, including in China, for engaging in sanctions evasion in support of Russia’s defense sector.
“These listings will prohibit the targeted companies from purchasing items, such as semiconductors, whether made in the U.S. or with certain U.S. technology or software abroad,” the White House said.
Commerce will also act with G7 allies to align measures on industrial machinery, luxury goods and other items, as well as issue new restrictions to prevent components found in Iranian drones from making their way to the Ukraine battlefield, the White House said.
Biden has spent the past year rallying U.S. allies against Russia’s invasion.
When the war began, Russia had anticipated taking over Kyiv quickly with a lightning strike and absorbing its western neighbor in what Moscow called a “special military operation.”
But Ukraine’s fierce resistance, bolstered by massive amounts of weaponry from the United States and NATO allies, has helped it hold the line and put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin at home.
While multiple rounds of Western sanctions have damaged the Russian economy, Putin can still fund his war and there is no end in sight to the Ukraine conflict now entering year two.
The United States planned to announce $250 million in aid to shore up Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the face of Russian attacks. Moldova will get $300 million to help wean itself from energy dependence on Russia.
The Pentagon said the additional $2 billion in military aid for Ukraine includes more ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and a number of different types of drones including Switchblades and the CyberLux K8.
The weapons will come from a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the Biden administration to get weapons from industry rather than from U.S. weapons stocks.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a CNN interview that aired on Friday, said he had no comment on the F-16s but that he did expect eventual talks on the conflict: “Most likely, it will end with some sort of negotiation.”
In a statement marking the anniversary, he said the United States had committed more than $32 billion in military aid over the past year to Ukraine, including 8,500 Javelin anti-armor systems and 38 HIMARS.
“Putin thought that Ukraine’s defenses would collapse, that America’s resolve would falter and that the world would look the other way. He was wrong,” Austin said.
“One year later, Ukraine’s brave defenders have not wavered, and neither has our commitment to support them for as long as it takes,” he said.
