WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama announced expanded sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, just hours after the European Union imposed its most sweeping measures yet penalizing Moscow for its role in supporting separatists in neighboring Ukraine.
The latest U.S. actions took aim at more Russian banks and a large defense firm, but they also went further than past moves by blocking future technology sales to Russia’s lucrative oil industry in an effort to inhibit its ability to develop future resources. The measures were meant to largely match those unveiled earlier in the day in Europe.
“Today is a reminder that the United States means what it says and we will rally the international community in standing up for the rights and freedom of people around the world,” Obama said.
The carefully orchestrated actions were designed to demonstrate solidarity in the face of what U.S. and European officials say has been a stark escalation by Russia in the insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Until now, European leaders have resisted the broader sorts of actions they agreed to Tuesday and their decision to do so reflected increasing alarm that Russia is not only helping separatists in Ukraine but directly involving itself in the fighting.
They are “meant as a strong warning,” said Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, in a statement Tuesday that was joined by José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission.
“Destabilizing Ukraine, or any other Eastern European neighboring state, will bring heavy costs,” the statement said.
The Obama administration’s sanctions were intended to largely, though not precisely, match the Europeans. In addition to the oil technology limits, the U.S. decision adds three more banks to the list of those cut off from medium- and long-term capital financing, including VTB Bank, one of the largest in Russia.
European governments moved ahead despite concerns that Europe would also pay an economic price for confronting the Kremlin more aggressively.
The new sanctions, which are meant to hit significant parts of the Russian economy including its banks and its energy industry, could take effect as soon as Friday, though the necessary legal formalities were likely to take longer to complete, officials said.
Full details of the new European sanctions were not expected to be published until later in the week, but the European Union issued a fact sheet Tuesday afternoon outlining the main points.
