U.S. senators on the Intelligence Committee proposed tightening sanctions against accomplices of Putin’s regime and instigators of the war in Ukraine. The letter, signed by nine senators, was sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The appeal was published on the website of committee chairman Mark Warner.
They offered to “take into account” the list of 6,000 Putin’s accomplices compiled by the Anti-Corruption Foundation. The list includes Russian officials, oligarchs, figures of science and culture, as well as propagandists who support Vladimir Putin’s regime and the war he unleashed in Ukraine.
The sanctions should “ensure that they cannot continue to support Russia’s reprehensible aggression, yet benefit from assets, vacations, or educational opportunities in the West,” according to the letter’s authors.
“The goal of such sanctions should be to ensure that these individuals do not have access to assets in the United States or ability to travel to the U.S.; force them to leave their posts, thereby hollowing out the Putin regime’s capacity to continue its unjust war; and pressure such officials to denounce publicly Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the corruption of the Putin regime.”
The letter was signed by Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, Co-Chairman Marco Rubio, and Senators Ron Wyden, James Risch, Martin Heinrich, Susan Collins, Kirsten Gillibrand, John Cornyn and Ben Sasse. They noted that they were willing to help implement targeted sanctions.
The letter is addressed to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who oversees the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is responsible for implementing economic and trade sanctions. As the lawyers explain, the OFAC can now begin reviewing individuals on the List of 6,000 for their eligibility under already existing sanctions regulations. We are expanding and refining the list of Putin's bribetakers and warmongers and expect them to be punished for their actions.
A similar resolution calling for tougher sanctions against warmongers was adopted by the European Parliament on May 19. Among other things, it demanded that the individual sanctions be expanded to include people on our list.
“[The European Parliament] calls on the Council to extend the list of individuals directly targeted by EU sanctions, including Russian oligarchs, taking into account the list of 6,000 individuals presented by Navalny’s Foundation.”