President Biden slapped new sanctions on more than 180 tankers shipping Russian oil, expanding his effort to bolster Ukraine’s war effort against Moscow before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
In addition to the tankers, the sanctions also target Russia-based maritime insurance service providers Ingosstrakh Insurance Company and Alfastrakhovanie Group.
White House officials say the vessels are part of a “shadow fleet” of opaque vessels that now carries the majority of Russian oil exports which are priced over $60 per barrel. The $60 cap was established by the Group of Seven nations in 2022 to restrict the revenue Russia could earn from oil exports. Russia, however, has exceeded that cap by exporting oil to low-governance nations like Gabon or the Cook Islands.
“The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia’s key source of revenue for running its brutal and illegal war against Ukraine,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “This action builds on, strengthens our focus since the beginning of the war on disrupting the Kremlin’s energy revenues including through the G7+ price cap launched in 2022.”
In conjunction with the U.S., the U.K. is also sanctioning major Russian oil producers.
Mr. Biden is also readying $500 million in new military aid for Ukraine that will include air defense missiles, air-to-ground munitions, and support equipment for F-16 fighters.
The Biden administration is scrambling to boost its efforts to support Ukraine ahead of Mr. Trump’s return to the White House on Jan. 20.
While Mr. Trump has promised to find a diplomatic resolution to the war that began in February 2022, fears have risen in Kyiv that a solution could come at a high price such as ceding land to Russia in exchange for peace.
Mr. Trump said late Thursday that he’s trying to arrange a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the Ukraine war.
“President Putin wants to meet” and “we are setting it up,” Mr. Trump said at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. “We have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess.”
Under the new sanctions, owners of the vessels and the insurance companies are barred from doing business in the U.S. They will also be blocked from accessing any assets they have in U.S. financial institutions, though it’s unknown how much business the sanctions entities are doing in America.
It is unclear how much impact the latest measures will have on limiting Russia’s ability to fight in Ukraine. The U.S. and its allies have issued a slew of sanctions against Russia over the past two years, but the war shows no signs of slowing down.
The White House has already imposed more than 2,000 sanctions and 300 export restrictions against Russia It also imposed visa restrictions on members of the Russian military and provided billions of dollars in aid and weapons to Ukraine.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.