US to sanction Russian officials, ban new investment in Russia

The White House is poised to announce new sanctions on Russia this week that include a ban on new investments and sanctions on Russian government officials and their family members.  

The sanctions will also target Russian-owned financial institutions and state-owned enterprises, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who said the sanctions were being coordinated with the Group of Seven and European Union.  

Psaki told reporters Tuesday that the sanctions are in response to recent killings in Bucha, a town near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, as well as other Russian acts of violence in Ukraine that the U.S. has said constitute war crimes.    

“We are continuing to assess and make decisions about additional consequences and steps we can put in place,” Psaki said during the White House briefing, indicating further penalties could be levied on Moscow in response to the carnage in Bucha.

The new sanctions are expected to be announced on Wednesday and come as little surprise after President Biden made clear earlier this week he would seek new sanctions following the horrific images of dead bodies of civilians in the streets of the city.  

Biden decried Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal on Monday but did not go as far as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in labeling the Bucha killings as “genocide.”  

The U.S. and its allies have imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine at the end of February. These include sanctions on Russian banks, oligarchs and government officials, including Putin himself and some top Kremlin officials.  

The penalties have squeezed the Russian economy but thus far have not caused the Kremlin to pull back from Ukraine.