More Sanctions On Russia, But U.S. Senate At Impasse On Trade Bill

The Biden administration announced sanctions on more than 300 Russian lawmakers and dozens of state-owned companies that are helping to fund and execute the war in the Ukraine last week. These entities are:

• The State Duma of the Russian Federation Federal and 328 members;
• Herman Gref, the CEO and chairman of Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank;
• Multiple Russian defense companies, their subsidiaries, and their leaders, including Tactical Missiles Corporation JSC (known as KTRV), JSC NPO High Precision Systems, NPK Tekhmash OAO, Joint Stock Company Russian Helicopters, and Joint Stock Company Kronshtadt;
• 17 directors of PJSC Sovcombank, a designated entity; and
• OOO Volga Group, a Russian financial services firm, and its CEO, Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko, and OOO Transoil, which Timchenko owns.

Read more here. U.S. allies took similar actions last week.

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, the Senate has not yet considered a House-approved bill that would eliminate permanent normal trade relations for Russia and Belarus. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) had attempted to bring the bill up for a vote last week, but Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) opposed that move.

Sen. Crapo wants the bill to include language to cement the ban on Russian energy imports that President Joe Biden had imposed by executive order. House Republicans supported cementing the ban as well, but, as Connecting the Dots  reported last week, they approved the legislation on a bipartisan 424-8 vote anyway.

In related news: the White House has pledged to work to ensure 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments are directed to Europe this year to help the continent reduce its dependence on Russian energy imports. The U.S. government also will collaborate with the European Union to build out LNG infrastructure. Specifically, President Biden announced the United States will form a joint task force with the European Commission to secure a “clean energy future.” Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots as more news about this initiative becomes available.