US, Allies to Issue More Russia Sanctions, Coordinate on Enforcement
The U.S. and its allies will issue another set of Russian sanctions this week amid a planned meeting between President Joe Biden and European leaders, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. The announcement will not only include new designations, Sullivan said, it also will build on efforts to ensure better enforcement of existing sanctions and export controls.
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Sullivan said the sanctions will be announced March 24 after Biden meets with G-7 leaders and addresses the 27 EU member states. The measures will include “further sanctions on Russia and tightening the existing sanctions to crack down on evasion and to ensure robust enforcement,” Sullivan said during a March 22 press conference.
The announcement will help ensure there is a “joint effort” to deter “sanctions busting, on any attempt by any country to help Russia basically undermine, weaken or get around the sanctions,” Sullivan said. While the U.S. has announced a flurry of individual and sectoral sanctions in recent weeks, Sullivan said the “next phase” of enforcement is equally important.
“We have applied an enormous amount of economic pressure, and in order to sustain and escalate that pressure over time, part of that is about new designations, new targets,” Sullivan said. “But a big part of it is about effective enforcement. He said the U.S. will apply “lessons” it has learned from enforcing other country-wide sanctions regimes.
Sullivan also said the U.S. hasn’t yet seen evidence of China providing military assistance to Russia (see 2203140009), which would be met with sanctions and other trade restrictions (see 2203080053). But he also said he “can’t make predictions” about what China may do. “Of course this is something we are monitoring closely,” Sullivan said. “The president made clear to President Xi [Jinping] the implications and consequences of any such provision of equipment, and they very well understand one another.”
Biden will use his trip to Europe to discuss China both during an emergency summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and in front of the 27 EU member states at the European Council, Sullivan added. He said Biden will speak with allies about coordinating a response to China if it violates Russia sanctions. “We believe we're very much on the same page with our European partners,” Sullivan said, “and we will be speaking with one voice on this issue.”
The administration also understands that some countries can’t impose the same sanctions as the U.S., especially those in Europe, because they may rely too heavily on Russian energy, Sullivan said. He said Biden won’t use his trip to pressure them to do so.
“What we have achieved with our European partners in terms of financial sanctions, export controls and other measures to hit the Russian economy hard, have had unprecedented impacts on a large economy at a scale we have never seen before,” Sullivan said. “And so [Biden] believes that that is, in fact, increasing the costs on Russia, it is sharpening the choice for Russia, and he feels very good about where things stand today in terms of the unity and resolve of the Western alliance on sanctions.”