The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 12 people and eight entities this week for their involvement in illegal drug trade, including people in Europe, the Asia Pacific and Latin America.

The EU on Dec. 16 announced its 15th sanctions package against Russia, designating nearly 100 new people and entities and taking other measures designed to prevent circumvention of EU sanctions.

The Council of the European Union renewed its sanctions regime on Guatemala until Jan. 13, 2026. The regime currently lists five people.

The Council of the EU added four people to its Sudan sanctions regime and three people to its Haiti sanctions list on Dec. 16.

The Biden administration has no plans to alter its policy toward Cuba during its final weeks in office, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a congressional panel last week.

The U.S. this week sanctioned people and entities for their ties to North Korea, including financial firms, employees of U.S.-designated companies, military officials and others.

President Joe Biden renewed a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against human rights abuses and corruption, the White House said Dec. 12. The “prevalence” of human rights violations and corruption continues to threaten U.S. security, the White House said. The emergency was extended for one year beyond Dec. 20.

EU ambassadors agreed to another round of Russia sanctions this week, including more designations of Russian entities and companies in third countries indirectly contributing to Russia’s “military and technological enhancement through the circumvention of export restrictions,” the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU said in a Dec. 11 post on X.

China’s Foreign Ministry this week criticized Canada’s recent sanctions against Chinese officials for human rights violations (see 2412110016), calling the announcement an “ugly, hypocritical political stunt done by some Canadian political figures under the pretext of human rights to serve an unspeakable agenda and please the U.S.”

The Treasury Department this week announced a move aimed at protecting a $20 billion disbursement for Ukraine, part of a larger effort by the Group of 7 nations to award the country $50 billion in frozen Russian assets. The agency said it transferred the $20 billion to a World Bank fund, a move that Reuters reported was designed to protect the money “from being clawed back” by the incoming Trump administration.