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Some sanctions could be announced as early as this week, one of
the sources told Reuters, adding that details are still being
worked out. Washington is also readying sanctions against more
officials in Putin's inner circle, the source said.
The U.S. Treasury Department issued new guidance on Wednesday to
close loopholes it said Russia was exploiting to evade
sanctions.
"Today’s guidance makes clear that such actions on behalf of
Russia’s Central Bank are prohibited, closing off attempts to
access the U.S. financial system," the Treasury Department said.
Washington has repeatedly warned that it was prepared to impose
further costs on wealthy Russians. The U.S. Justice Department
on Wednesday launched a task force known as "KleptoCapture"
aimed at straining the finances of Russia's oligarchs.
Washington has so far imposed several rounds of sanctions,
including against Putin and the central bank, after Russia's
forces invaded Ukraine in the biggest assault on a European
state since World War Two. Moscow calls the assault a "special
operation."
The measures have included sanctions against what the U.S.
Treasury Department said were Russian "elites," including some
with ties to Sberbank, VTB, Rosneft and the Federal Security
Service (FSB).
The Washington Post, which first reported the United States was
preparing to expand sanctions on Russian oligarchs, said the
list of people being readied by the White House and Treasury
will overlap with some of those sanctioned by the European Union
on Monday, including Alisher Usmanov, the owner of an iron and
steel conglomerate.
The EU on Monday imposed sanctions on 26 prominent people over
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including oligarchs and business
people active in the oil, banking and finance sectors.
It also targeted government members, high-level military people
and "propagandists who contributed to spread anti-Ukrainian
propaganda," the EU said in a statement.
Several people included on the EU's list on Monday are not yet
designated by the United States, including Nikolay Tokarev, the
chief executive of energy giant Transneft, Dmitry Chernyshenko,
Russia's deputy prime minister, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov.
State Department spokesman Ned Price on Monday said that U.S.
sanctions "will ultimately be symmetrical and mutually
reinforcing" with those of U.S. allies and partners.
Washington has repeatedly warned that it is prepared to take
further measures to hold Moscow to account over its invasion of
Ukraine.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, U.S.
President Joe Biden said the United States would work to seize
the yachts, luxury apartments and private jets of wealthy
Russians with ties to Putin.
"We are coming for your ill-begotten gains," Biden said.
The United States and its allies last week announced they would
launch a task force to identify and freeze the assets of
sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs.
The White House on Wednesday said the United States is "very
open" to imposing sanctions on Russia's oil and gas industry as
it also weighs the potential market impact, as global oil prices
touched eight-year highs and supply disruptions mounted.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Matt Spetalnick and Doina
Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Catherine Evans, Nick Zieminski,
Matthew Lewis and Cynthia Osterman)
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