US President Joe Biden unleashed sweeping sanctions Thursday responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine that target Moscow’s banking, technology and aerospace sectors, though the US and Europe stopped short of several key steps to target Moscow – and Putin himself.
Still, the scale of the package – crafted over weeks of intensive technical and diplomatic negotiations – marks the most significant deployment of economic penalties against a country with Russia’s economic size and integration in global markets. The US levied penalties across industries, from asset freezes for the largest banks to debt and equity restrictions on critical mining, transportation and logistics firms.
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