War With Ukraine: Sanctions Bite As Ruble Falls Sending Russians To Banks

Ukraine Crisis: US President Joe Biden administration officials said Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, European Union and others will join the US in targeting the Russian central bank.

Updated on: 28 February 2022 3:11 pm

People wait in a queue outside a supermarket in central Kyiv, Ukraine.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday announced new sanctions targeting the Russian central bank and state investment funds in the latest hard-hitting retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.

The move was described as the most “significant action” that Treasury has taken against an economy of Russia's size, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the sanctions on the condition of anonymity.

Biden administration officials said Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, European Union and others will join the U.S. in targeting the Russian central bank.

“The unprecedented action we are taking today will significantly limit Russia's ability to use assets to finance its destabilizing activities, and target the funds Putin and his inner circle depend on to enable his invasion of Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

Treasury said the move effectively immobilizes any assets of the Russian Central Bank in the United States or held by Americans. The Biden administration estimated that the move could impact “hundreds of billions of dollars” of Russia funding.