Venezuela rejected the new sanctions the US Treasury Department imposed against several Venezuelan officials “in the strongest terms.”
In a statement on Thursday, Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Ministry denounced the US move as “unilateral, illegitimate and illegal coercive measures” and a “new crime of aggression,” Xinhua news agency reported.
Washington has once again demonstrated “its total disregard for international law, the self-determination of peoples and the democratic will of Venezuelans,” it said.
The ministry noted that the latest sanctions violated the agreements signed in Qatar between the governments of Venezuela and the United States in September 2023.
Earlier in the day, the US Treasury Department announced new individual sanctions against 16 Venezuelan officials in various branches of government.
It said that the sanctioned officials “obstructed democratic political participation and undermined the election process” during the recent presidential elections in Venezuela.
Among the officials listed were the President of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, Caryslia Rodriguez, and the first Vice President of the National Assembly, Pedro Infante.
Sahara Thunder has been identified as the key front company for MODAFL’s illicit financing and a central player in Iran’s design, development, manufacture, and sale of thousands of UAVs…reports Asian Lite News
The United States has imposed sanctions on over a dozen entities, eight individuals and vessels that have facilitated illicit trade and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) transfer on behalf of the Iranian military.
“The United States is today imposing sanctions on 16 entities and eight individuals, as well as identifying as blocked property five vessels and one aircraft, that have facilitated illicit trade and the sale of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in support of Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and the regime’s UAV development and procurement,” the US State Department said in a release.
Moreover, the UK and Canada are imposing sanctions targeting several entities and individuals involved in Iran’s UAV procurement and other military-related activities, respectively.
Sahara Thunder has been identified as the key front company for MODAFL’s illicit financing and a central player in Iran’s design, development, manufacture, and sale of thousands of UAVs.
Many of these designs and UAVs have ultimately been transferred to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
“The United States will continue to hold Iran accountable for its transfer of UAVs and other dangerous military hardware to Russia and to regional proxies,” the statement added.
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson, said, “Iran’s Ministry of Defence continues to destabilise the region and world with its support to Russia’s war in Ukraine, unprecedented attack on Israel, and proliferation of UAVs and other dangerous military hardware to terrorist proxies.”
“The United States, in close coordination with our British and Canadian partners, will continue to use all means available to combat those who would finance Iran’s destabilising activities,” Nelson added.
Sahara Thunder has also played an instrumental role in the Iranian military’s sale of UAVs.
“MODAFL has cooperated with Russia to finance and produce Iranian-designed one-way attack UAVs at the US-sanctioned Joint Stock Company Special Economic Zone of Industrial Production Alabuga (SEZ Alabuga) facility in Russia under a USD 1.75 billion contract,” the US Department of Treasury said.
As of late 2022, Russian officials were negotiating a deal for Sahara Thunder to deliver and produce thousands of UAVs per year at this facility.
The Russian military have been using these UAVs in Ukraine against critical infrastructure and civilian targets, the statement added. (ANI)
The US, she said, has failed to comply with the lifting of sanctions as established in the Barbados Agreement reached between the government and Venezuelan opposition parties in October 2023…reports Asian Lite News
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has said the US sanctions against the country have caused losses of nearly $700 billion in GDP.
At an international seminar in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra on Monday, the Vice President said Venezuela’s oil industry sustained losses of almost 232 billion dollars due to the sanctions, which have in addition frozen more than 22 billion dollars Venezuelan assets in international banks, Xinhua news agency reported.
The US, she said, has failed to comply with the lifting of sanctions as established in the Barbados Agreement reached between the government and Venezuelan opposition parties in October 2023.
The agreement brought a relief, known as General License 44, from the US on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government in October 2023, but the Joe Biden administration reimposed sanctions on Venezuela in January, saying the move was in response to Maduro’s decision to ban a leading opposition candidate from running for president.
In view of US unilateral policies, Latin America “essentially” needs a new financial architecture, Rodriguez said.
“If we want to think about a new financial architecture, we must carry out trade in our own currencies,” said the Venezuelan vice president.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Ali Bagheri Kani and EU’s deputy foreign policy chief, Enrique Mora had recently met in the Qatari capital Doha, reports Asian Lite News
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Ali Bagheri Kani, has said that consultations would continue with the EU on issues of common interest, including the removal of sanctions on Tehran.
He made the remarks on Friday on social media platform X while elaborating on his recent meeting in the Qatari capital Doha with the EU’s deputy foreign policy chief, Enrique Mora, and the bloc’s Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process Sven Koopmans, without specifying the date of the meeting.
Bagheri Kani said, “I had a useful meeting with Mora and Koopmans,” noting that such consultations would continue to further address matters of mutual concern, such as lifting the sanctions on Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.
Mora also wrote in a post on X that he had met Bagheri Kani in Doha, listing their meeting’s topics as “Iran-Russia military cooperation, Gaza war and regional dimension, nuclear commitments and sanctions lifting in JCPOA framework, and bilateral issues”.
The JCPOA, short for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is a nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers in July 2015. Under the deal, Iran agreed to put some curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. The US, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments.
The talks on the revival of the JCPOA began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria. Despite several rounds of talks, no significant breakthrough has been achieved since the end of the last round in August 2022.
While primarily targeting Russians and Russian entities, US and EU sanctions also included mainland Chinese individuals and firms, including those in Hong Kong, for aiding the Russian military.
The sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union on Friday, against several people and companies for supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine also included several companies from China, the Voice of America (VOA) reported.
Although most of the sanctions were against Russians and Russian firms, the US and EU measures also included Chinese individuals and companies based in mainland Chinese cities as well as Hong Kong for supplying the Russian military.
Moreover, they also included sanctions against Russian prison officials over the suspicious death of opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
Russia’s foreign ministry denounced the sanctions as “illegal” and said it would respond by banning some EU citizens who provided military assistance to Ukraine from entering Russia, according to VOA.
Chinese officials did not issue an immediate response to the sanctions.
However, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, commented on the expected sanctions on Tuesday at a regular briefing and said China follows an “objective and impartial position on the Ukraine crisis” and has “worked actively to promote peace talks.”
She further said that they “have not sat idly by, still less exploited the situation for selfish gains.”
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning (Screengrab from X)
Moreover, Ukrainian officials and media reports have also accused Chinese companies of supplying key electronics and dual-use technologies, including drone components, to Russia’s military since its invasion of Ukraine two years ago. However, Beijing has denied their claim, according to VOA.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen preempted Friday’s official announcement on social media, stating, “I welcome the agreement on our 13th sanctions package against Russia. We must keep degrading Putin’s war machine. With 2000 listings in total, we keep the pressure high on the Kremlin. We are also further cutting Russia’s access to drones.”
Reportedly, the sanctioned individuals and companies are banned from doing business with US or European firms.
However, legal and political analysts disagreed on the effectiveness of the sanctions.
Lawyer Mark Handley, a partner at the Philadelphia-headquartered law firm Duane Morris LLP, said being sanctioned will certainly affect their international business. “Things like international insurance companies or shipping could get very complicated once they are on the sanctions list.”
However, Pieter Cleppe, editor-in-chief for BrusselsReport.eu, told VOA, “Historical research has shown that sanctions mostly fail, especially when prolonged, as is the case with Russia. The targeted country learns to cope with them.”
He added, “While sanctions may impoverish ordinary Russians, they have failed to halt the Russian offensive, which should be the goal.”
The Yermak-McFaul International Working Group on Russian Sanctions and the Ukrainian think tank KSE Institute published a report in January, showing that sanctioned technology has still been reaching Russia’s military through third-country intermediaries, which the EU and the US hope the fresh measures will stop.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.(photo;twitter.com/vonderleyen)
Junhua Zhang, senior assistant researcher at the Brussels-based European Institute for Asian Studies, said the EU’s highest expectation “is for China to align with the EU in resisting Russia’s aggression, which is unrealistic. The EU’s minimum expectation is for Chinese companies not to work for Russia, but strictly speaking, only fools would have such an expectation.”
“Just consider (Chinese President) Xi Jinping sees Putin as his best friend, and those below him will act accordingly, a point that Europeans also recognize,” Zhang added, as reported by VOA.
However, others argued that sanctions on Chinese firms could push Beijing to reconsider.
Aliona Hlivco, a former Ukrainian lawmaker and managing director at the London-based think tank the Henry Jackson Society, said that sanctions against Chinese companies could prove useful in deterring Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“China is currently attempting to improve relations with the West, so reinforcing China’s compliance with international norms could be opportune,” Hlivco said.
It is pertinent to mention that the EU is China’s second-largest trading bloc partner after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
In 2023, while Russia lost most of its European market owing to the sanctions, the bilateral trade between China and Russia hit a record high of USD 240 billion, a year-on-year increase of 26.3 per cent, VOA reported.
However, trade between the US and China in 2023 fell for the first time since 2019 by 11 per cent to USD 664 billion, according to customs data.
According to the Commerce Department, the US imported more goods from Mexico than China for the first time in 20 years. (ANI)
Russia appears far from being deterred by the sanctions. Its economy grew by 3 per cent in 2023, more than the US economy, reports Yashwant Raj
The US has hit Russia with 500 new sanctions on Friday over the death of jailed Opposition leader Aleksey Navalny and the ongoing war against Ukraine, with the goal of further constricting its energy earnings that fuel and sustain the war effort.
The US has also announced 100 sanctions against entities that are providing “backdoor support” to the Russian war machine, including those in China, the UAE and Liechtenstein.
“These sanctions will target individuals connected to Navalny’s imprisonment as well as Russia’s financial sector, defence industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across multiple continents,” US President Joe Biden said, announcing new curbs.
“They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home.”
The 47-year-old Navalny died in a Russian prison on February 16. The US has sanctioned more than 2,000 entities in Russia since President Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine to deter him by squeezing his energy earnings and sources of material for the war industry.
(Kremlin Photo)
But Russia appears far from being deterred. Its economy grew by 3 per cent in 2023, more than the US economy. And it continues to wage the war, which is now going in their advantage specially with Ukraine’s depleting arsenal desperately in need of replenishment. A legislation providing additional security funding for Ukraine is caught in a political fight between Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, home of the US congress.
Pressing Republicans, who control the House of Representatives to clear the bill, Biden said: “History is watching. The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will not be forgotten. Now is the time for us to stand strong with Ukraine and stand united with our allies and partners. Now is the time to prove that the US stands up for freedom and bows down to no one.”
These additional sanctions come amidst further deterioration in relations between the world’s largest nuclear powers and sharp language exchanged by the two sides.
Biden called Putin a “crazy SOB’ at a fundraiser for his re-election campaign earlier this week. And Putin reacted by sarcastically calling Biden his preferred president of the US.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has defended Israeli settlers as ‘law abiding citizens’ after Biden administration imposed sanctions on them
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded harshly to a statement made by President Joe Biden on Thursday on what the President called “settler violence” in the West Bank. The statement came as the Biden Administration imposed sanctions on Israelis referred to as “extremist settlers” who commit acts of violence against Palestinians.
“The overwhelming majority of residents in Judea and Samaria are law-abiding citizens, many of whom are currently fighting – as conscripts and reservists – to defend Israel,” declared Netanyahu.
“Israel acts against all Israelis who break the law, everywhere; therefore, exceptional measures are unnecessary,” he added.
In his statement, President Biden said, “I find that the situation in the West Bank – in particular high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction – has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region.”
The President went on to say that such actions “undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom.”
Biden also said that they undermine the security of Israel and have the potential to “lead to broader regional destabilisation across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel and interests.”
“For these reasons,” asserted the President, “these actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” (ANI/TPS)
Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of State Council via a video conference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Tuesday, July 04, 2023.(Photo:IANS/Kremlin)
The BRICS summit is being held from August 22-24. BRICS is a grouping of the world economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa…reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a pre-recorded message played at the BRICS Business Forum said that the international economy is affected because of the freezing of assets of sovereign countries and implied sanctions which he called illegal.
The Russian President said, “The international economic situation is also seriously affected by the illegitimate sanction practice and illegal freezing of assets of sovereign states which essentially amounts to their trampling upon all the basic norms and rules of free trade and economic life.”
President Putin spoke about increased prices of agricultural products and crops and added that the impact of this inflation has made poor countries more vulnerable than others.
Putin further said, “Norms and rules that not so long ago seemed immutable… Resource shortages, rising unemployment and aggravation of other chronic problems of the world economy are the direct consequences. Prices for food, basic agriculture products and crops have skyrocketed and … poor countries are hit hardest.”
He further said, “In these circumstances, BRICS states have stepped up their interaction and our joint work to ensure economic growth and sustainable development that brings concrete tangible results.”
The BRICS summit is being held from August 22-24. BRICS is a grouping of the world economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
This year’s BRICS is under the presidency of South Africa. The theme of this year’s summit is: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism.” This will be the first in-person BRICS Summit after three consecutive years of virtual meetings owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, the United States, along with the G7 nations and European Union (EU) imposed severe and immediate economic costs on Russia for its “atrocities in Ukraine, including in Bucha”.
The sweeping financial sanctions came after US action to cut off Russia’s frozen funds in the United States to make debt payments.
The US has announced full blocking sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institution, Sberbank, and Russia’s largest private bank, Alfa Bank. This action freezed any of Sberbank’s and Alfa Bank’s assets touching the US financial system and prohibits US persons from doing business with them.
The US has also prohibited new investment in the Russian Federation as President Joe Biden signed a new Executive Order that includes a prohibition on new investment in Russia by US persons wherever located, aimed at isolating Russia from the global economy. (ANI)
The news comes as the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps takes up Presidency of the International Transport Forum which he will use to call for a united response against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
The UK Government has announced today (Thursday 19 May 2022) that it is introducing new sanctions against the Russian airline sector. State-owned Aeroflot, Russia’s largest airline, Ural Airlines and Rossiya Airlines will now be unable to sell their unused, lucrative landing slots at UK airports – preventing Russia from cashing in on an estimated £50 million.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said, “As long as Putin continues his barbarous assault on Ukraine, we will continue to target the Russian economy. We’ve already closed our airspace to Russian airlines. Today we’re making sure they can’t cash in their lucrative landing slots at our airports. Every economic sanction reinforces our clear message to Putin – we will not stop until Ukraine prevails.
The news comes as the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps takes up Presidency of the International Transport Forum which he will use to call for a united response against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said, “The UK was one of the first nations to implement sanctions on Putin and his allies; we forbade entrance to their ships and planes, strangling them of the privilege to benefit from global trade and commerce. Today, the UK Government has built on the strong action we have already taken against Russia’s flagship carrier Aeroflot, along with Rossiya and Ural Airlines. This means they will be unable to use their expensive landing slots at UK airports. Our actions will also prevent Russia from selling the slots, and cashing in on up to £50 million.”
Today’s announcement is the latest round of UK sanctions to ensure that Russia cannot benefit from the UK’s world class aviation and transport industries – having previously banned Russia from the UK’s airspace and waters and banned the export of aviation goods and technology.
International sanctions are having a significant impact on Putin and his war machine. Russia’s own Central Bank has admitted that sanctions are a major challenge for Russian supply chains. Sanctions mean that:
several weapons manufacturers having to suspend their activity due to a lack of parts defence company capabilities are restricted, limiting Russia’s ability to replace advanced tech, including drones
Russia’s domestic vehicle sales have dropped by 80% partly due to a lack of components – which is also reducing their ability to produce military vehicles
Russia’s vital exports of energy are also shrinking – with crude oil exports down 30% in April and expected to fall further as sanctions bite. Through co-ordinated action across the G7 to phase out oil imports, alongside the banning of critical oil refining and catalyst goods, international allies are tightening the vice on Putin’s most trusted revenue stream.
Hard hitting economic sanctions are also having a long term impact on Russia’s economy. While the Kremlin has managed to stabilise the rouble, Russia is still heading for the deepest recession since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Forecasts show Russia’s GDP shrinking by between 8.5% and 15% this year, with the IMF expecting the economy to shrink a further 2.3% in 2023.
The British government specified that Russia is one of the leading platinum and palladium producing countries and that its related imports to the United Kingdom had been significant…reports Asian Lite News
The United Kingdom is introducing a new package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, targeting a total of $2 billion worth of trade, the British government said.
“The UK is today announcing a new package of sanctions on Russia and Belarus targeting £1.7 billion ($2 billion) worth of trade in a move designed to further weaken (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war machine,” the British government said in a Sunday statement.
The release specified that the new restrictions will bring the total value of products subjected to full or partial import and export sanctions since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine to more than 4 billion pounds.
“The new import tariffs will cover Pound 1.4 billion worth of goods – including platinum and palladium,” the UK government said, adding that “the planned export bans intend to hit more than Pound 250 million worth of goods in sectors of the Russian economy most dependent on UK goods, targeting key materials such as chemicals, plastics, rubber, and machinery.” This is about 10 per cent of the total UK export to Russia as of 2021.
The British government specified that Russia is one of the leading platinum and palladium producing countries and that its related imports to the United Kingdom had been significant.
The new restrictions are the third wave of trade sanctions that the United Kingdom has imposed against Russia. Excluding gold and energy, about 96 per cent of imports from Russia to the UK and over 60 per cent of British exports to Russia are now under restrictions, according to the UK government.
