The Council of the European Union on July 22 sanctioned four people and two entities for "serious human rights abuses," including the systematic use of sexual and gender-based violence in Syria, Ukraine, North Korea and Haiti.
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A new research briefing by the U.K. Parliament's House of Commons examines the current state of sanctions against Russia, allied efforts to tackle sanctions evasion and the top countries continuing to support Russia’s military despite the restrictions: China, Iran, North Korea and Belarus. The 24-page report notes that the “focus” of the Group of 7 countries, along with the EU, has recently shifted to “preventing sanctions evasion and closing any remaining loopholes in the existing regime,” although Russia continues to find workarounds. The report said “questions remain” over “the effectiveness of those sanctions as Russia has sought alternative markets and established new trade routes and methods for circumvention.”
The Council of the European Union on July 22 renewed its sanctions regime on Russia for another six months, extending the restrictions until Jan. 31. The regime includes a range of individual, sectoral, trade, financial and servicing restrictions.
After U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan last week said the Biden administration is preparing new sanctions against Chinese entities, including possibly financial institutions, for supporting Russia's military, China said it “firmly rejects all kinds of illicit unilateral sanctions” that the U.S. may be considering.
The U.K. on July 18 sanctioned various oil tankers that transport Russian oil, in an effort to "crack down on Russia's 'shadow fleet,'" the U.K. Prime Minister's Office announced. Eleven Russian ships were sanctioned, including the Rocky Runner, which previously attempted to evade British restrictions by "changing its operator."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned two members of the Russian “hacktivist group” Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, Yuliya Vladimirovna Pankratova and Denis Olegovich Degtyarenko, for cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure. OFAC said Pankratova is the group's leader and Degtyarenko is its primary hacker, and they have helped the group conduct cyberattacks against Ukraine and governments and companies supporting Ukraine.
European officials last week called for more EU-U.S. cooperation on China policy, particularly around trade restrictions, to respond to Beijing’s unfair market practices and deter its military.
Japanese authorities last week arrested the representative of a trading company for allegedly illegally exporting controlled items subject to sanctions on Russia, Baker McKenzie said in a client alert. The Russian citizen's arrest marks the first of its kind in Japan involving illicit exports to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
When Bloomberg asked former President Donald Trump if he has thought about easing or eliminating sanctions on Russia as part of a peace settlement in Ukraine if he is reelected, the Republican nominee replied, "Yeah. So what we’re doing with sanctions is we’re forcing everyone away from us. So I don’t love sanctions. I found them very useful with Iran, but I didn’t even need sanctions with Iran so much. I told China that and Russia is in a similar position."