Washington, Feb 28 (FN Agency) The United States aims to cut Russia’s access not only to dollars but to all vital currencies, a senior US administration official said on Monday. “Our goal is to make sure that Russia won’t get access not only to dollars but also to other currencies, essential for the [Russian operation in Ukraine],” the official told an online press briefing. The United States is sanctioning Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, as part of a sanctions package over the military operation in Ukraine, the official said. “Today we are also [sanctioning] the Russian Direct Investment Fund and its CEO Dmitriev.”
The senior administration official said that the Biden administration will issue a general license authorizing certain energy-related transactions with Russia to mitigate the consequences of sanctions for the US and allies. “The President made very clear that it was critical that we target our sanctions in a way that would impose cost on Russia, while mitigating those costs on American people and our allies and partners. In consistent with that, Treasury will issue general license authorizing certain energy-related transactions by exempting energy-related transaction for preventing unnecessary harm to consumers,” the official said. The United States is ready to impose additional sanctions on Russia as the latter moves forward with its military operation in Ukraine, the official said. “And we continue to have additional steps that we could take that will continue to have an impact on the Russian economy because as they move forward with the invasion, we’re committed to working with our allies and partners to make sure that their economy continues to move backwards so that they have less money to fund their projections of power going forward,” the official said.