The Russian Foreign Ministry announced additional sanctions on 287 current and former members of the U.K. Parliament in retaliation for the U.K.'s sanctions on 386 members of the Russian State Duma, according to an unofficial translation. The restrictions amount to a travel ban and include Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the House of Commons.
Canada last week imposed another set of sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine, targeting an additional 11 senior government officials and 192 members of the "People’s Councils of the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics." Canada said it will continue to work with allies to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin “accountable” and “will not stop putting pressure on the regime.”
The U.K. issued a General License under its Russia sanctions regime, permitting various law enforcement and regulatory authorities to carry out "any action necessary to comply with" orders made by various U.K. courts, forfeiture notices or external order from the secretary of state. The license permits an individual to carry out any action needed to comply with certain asset recovery developments, including a negotiated settlement with a regulatory agency or an approved deferred prosecution agreement to which a regulatory agency is a party.
Among the 28 motions to instruct for China package negotiations that will be considered next Tuesday and Wednesday in the Senate, two are on sanctions, and one requires that business funding programs document that technology developed at the companies receiving grants don't share sensitive technology with China or Russia.
The U.K. amended 195 entries under its Russia sanctions regime, still subjecting the entries to an asset freeze, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. It also corrected the listings for Oleg Vladimirovich Onopko and Alexandra Alexandrovna Usacheva. The 195 amended entries were for individuals who were listed under the sanctions regime without any explanation as to their position in Russian society. The amendments add this information, making it clear that the individuals are Russian politicians and members of the military.
President Joe Biden asked Congress this week for stronger authorities to seize the assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs and investigate and prosecute cases of sanctions evasion. The request was sent April 28 alongside a proposal for an additional $33 billion Ukraine-related aid package, including about $20 billion in additional military aid.
A bill that would authorize the administration to confiscate any property valued at more than $5 million from a Russian oligarch who has already been sanctioned for involvement in the Ukraine invasion passed the House 417-8.
The State Department has moved “very effectively and very efficiently” to approve exports of military equipment to Ukraine since the invasion by Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Blinken said the agency has been able to authorize some license applications in days that previously took several weeks. “This is moving quickly,” he said during an April 26 hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We have cut through a lot of red tape.”
A key U.S. national security official who oversees certain U.S. sanctions actions is planning to take an extended leave of absence from the White House, The Washington Post reported April 26. Daleep Singh, a deputy national security adviser who has helped to lead the administration's sanctions response to Russia, will be away from the role due to family reasons, the report said. The White House is reportedly still determining how to fill Singh’s role. A White House spokesperson didn’t comment.
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