US enacts sanctions targeting Russian military, gold

Washington – The US announced steps yesterday to implement the new sanctions on Russia as agreed by G7 leaders, targeting Moscow’s defence industry and banning gold imports from the country.

The latest moves “strike at the heart of Russia’s ability to develop and deploy weapons and technology used for Vladimir Putin’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine”, the US Treasury Department said.

The sanctions target state company Rostec and other industries critical to the defence sector, as well as military units and officers implicated in human rights abuses in Ukraine, Treasury said.

Russia vowed yesterday its assault on Ukraine would continue until Kyiv surrenders, as world leaders warned that Moscow would pay for its aggression.

The G7 group of the world’s most powerful democracies met in Germany to send a message that they remain united behind Ukraine’s embattled government. And, ahead of a key meeting of the Nato allies, US President Joe Biden and fellow leaders pledged military aid for Kyiv and economic pain for Moscow.

But President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin was unmoved, warning that Ukraine’s forces’ only option was to lay down their arms in the face of the Russian invasion. “The Ukrainian side can stop everything before the end of today,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. “An order for the nationalist units to lay down their arms is necessary,” he said.

The consequences of Russia’s four-month-old invasion were on display in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, where shaken civilians recounted Monday’s missile strike on a shopping mall. “Everything burned, really everything, like a spark to a touchpaper. I heard people screaming. It was horror,” witness Polina Puchintseva said.

All that was left of the shopping centre – scene of at least 18 deaths – was charred debris, chunks of blackened walls and green lettering from a smashed store front. Russia claims its missile salvo was aimed at an arms depot, but none of the civilians who talked to AFP knew of any weapons store in the neighbourhood.

And, outside Russia, the latest carnage sparked only Ukrainian fury and western solidarity. “Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime,” the G7 leaders said, condemning the “abominable attack”.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky declared on his social media channels: “Only total insane terrorists, who should have no place on earth, can strike missiles at civilian objects. Russia must be recognised as a state sponsor of terrorism. The world can and therefore must stop Russian terror,” he added.

At their summit in the German Alps, the G7 leaders vowed that Russia, already under tough sanctions, would face more economic pain. They announced several new measures to squeeze Putin, including a plan to work towards a price cap on Russian oil. –