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Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on new measures of Russia in response to sanctions of unfriendly states, as well as international organizations that joined them, says the document on the official website of legal information.
According to RBC, all transactions with these organizations will be included in the sanctions list. It will be prohibited to export raw materials, as well as any other products to companies that are on the sanctions list. Russian officials will not be able to cooperate with international organizations, corporations, businesses and companies, as well as with individuals who have been banned.
Putin's decree states that all these retaliatory measures will be introduced to protect Russia's national interests. It should be recalled that since the end of February, the US, EU countries, as well as their supporting states, have imposed more than one package of sanctions on Russian corporations, companies and banks. Both legal entities and individuals have been subjected to restrictions. Certain restrictions were imposed on Russian banks, including Sberbank and VTB, not only by the EU countries and the United States, but also by Canada, Australia and Japan. According to RBC, exports of high-tech products to Russia have been restricted. The Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and other major state corporations are under sanctions.
Some countries have imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and State Duma deputies were also subject to restrictions. The restrictions also affected members of the Russian Security Council.
In addition, the EU has frozen almost half of the Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves and imposed a moratorium on the purchase of Russian coal. Washington imposed a ban on imports of Russian energy carriers, which included crude oil. It should be noted that the U.S. primarily pursues its economic interests, forcing European countries to switch to American energy resources.
Earlier, on February 25, Chairwoman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko said that Russia had prepared a series of retaliatory sanctions, which, in her opinion, would not be mirror sanctions, but would hit the weak points of the Western countries.
Sanctions from the U.S., the EU and some Asian countries are coming thick and fast. Even Russian athletes, writers and poets, as well as Russian culture in general, have been banned, and there are even questions about the return of cultural treasures that were previously shown at exhibitions held in European museums.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin dragged heels about imposing retaliatory sanctions. According to some analysts and political scientists, the Russian leadership was identifying the most vulnerable points, which would be the most painful for the economies of the United States and the EU.
The Kremlin imposed personal sanctions on U.S. President Joe Biden, who is now banned from entering Russia, only on March 15. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, as well as other American political figures, was similarly banned. In addition, on March 21, Russia did not negotiate with Japan over the issue of four islands in the Kuril Ridge. Then the Russian President signed a decree on the transition to the payment for Russian gas supplied to unfriendly countries in rubles.
The text of the decree signed the day before by Putin states that the federal bodies of state power, bodies of state power of subjects of the Russian Federation, other state bodies, bodies of local self-government, organizations and individuals, which are under the jurisdiction of Russia, are prohibited to enter into foreign trade contacts with persons and organizations that are under sanctions. The fulfillment of obligations under transactions already made is also prohibited, even if these obligations have not been fulfilled at all or have not been entirely fulfilled. Any financial transactions, as a result of which sanctioned persons can benefit, are prohibited. At the same time, the Central Bank has the right to provide official explanations on these issues.
According to Putin's decree, exports of various raw materials or products produced in Russia also fall under the ban if they are sent to companies on the sanctions list. Now, for example, the U.S. corporation Boeing, which joined the sanctions, may find itself without Russian titanium.
This decree is a response to the U.S. mechanism that has already been engaged in relation to Russia.