The Day After Xi Jinping-Putin Summit... US Imposes Additional Sanctions on 'War Financial Support'

(Photo by Reuters)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] On the 15th (local time), the day after China and Russia held their first face-to-face summit since the Ukraine war, the United States announced additional sanctions against Russia. A large number of companies and individuals suspected of supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine by circumventing international financial sanctions were added to the sanctions list.

According to major foreign media, on this day, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it would add two companies and 22 individuals to the sanctions list for aiding in circumventing international financial sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions list included a large number of related figures such as Vladimir Valerievich Komlev, CEO of Russia's own national payment system (NSPK), and Viktor Zidkov, head of the Depository.

NSPK is a payment network independently established to circumvent the financial sanctions imposed by the West on Russia following Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. After being expelled from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) payment network in March, it has been used domestically within Russia.

In a statement, the Treasury Department's OFAC explained, "This action was taken in cooperation with the Department of Commerce, which imposed new export controls on Russia, and the Department of State, which targets Russia's defense and advanced technology industries, resulting in new sanctions."

The Treasury Department also announced that the ban on the sale or export of quantum computing services to all individuals residing in Russia will take effect at 0:00 on October 15.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen emphasized in a press release, "As Ukraine advances to defend its freedom, we will continue strong actions to undermine Russia's military rebuilding efforts and hold Russia accountable for war crimes," adding, "We will also take measures to financially isolate President Putin."

The U.S. State Department also announced sanctions against dozens of Russian and Ukrainian officials and Russian public institutions for human rights abuses and theft of Ukrainian grain in a separate statement.

The State Department stated that at least 23 officials and 31 Russian institutions and companies played roles in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, some of which have already been included in the sanctions list.

Assets of individuals and entities on the State Department's sanctions list within the United States will be seized, and all business activities within the U.S. will be halted.

Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

This meeting took place about 200 days after the outbreak of the war following Putin's declaration of a special military operation on February 24. During the summit, the two leaders publicly confirmed their support for each other's positions regarding the Taiwan issue and the invasion of Ukraine.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.