Biden planned new sanctions against Russia before leaving office – WP

According to WP, the main target of the restrictions will be the so-called “shadow fleet” of international ships transporting Russian oil to non-Western countries, as well as Russian oil exporters, which have not yet been subject to sanctions.

Also being discussed is the revocation of licenses that allow banks to carry out transactions related to Russian energy, the newspaper’s interlocutors said.

The Biden administration had been reluctant to impose sanctions on the Russian energy sector, fearing rising gas prices and soaring inflation, but changed its position in recent months, said Edward Fishman, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Energy Policy. from Columbia University. “The elections are over and inflation is under control. The reasons to be cautious in sanctions are no longer valid,” he stated.

The key goal of the new sanctions package against Russia is “a double-digit reduction in its export revenues within 6 to 12 months,” Peter Harrell, former senior director of international economics in the Biden administration, told WP.

The last time the United States imposed sanctions against Russia was in November 2024. Then, the blacklist of the American Ministry of Finance included Gazprombank, the state corporation Dom.RF, BKS Bank and several other credit organizations. The introduction of sanctions caused the ruble exchange rate to collapse to its lowest level since March 2022.