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Biden Signs New US Sanctions Targeting Russia's Defense Industry

by VOA News

   U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday to bolster
   U.S. sanctions against financial institutions that aid Russia's defense
   industry in its war against Ukraine. The order allows the U.S. Treasury
   to target banks in countries like China, Turkey, the United Arab
   Emirates and elsewhere that may be helping Russia evade sanctions.

   The U.S. expects financial institutions to ensure that they "are not
   witting or unwitting facilitators" of the Russian military, Treasury
   Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement Friday about the new
   executive order.

   Most major financial institutions are adhering to U.S. sanctions aimed
   at preventing Russia from acquiring materials needed for its war
   effort, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a TV
   interview Friday on CNBC.

   The executive order was signed days after the European Union adopted
   its 12th round of sanctions against Russia, which included dozens of
   companies and individuals linked to Russian aggression against Ukraine,
   a ban on Russian diamonds, and tighter controls on the $60-per-barrel
   oil price cap.

   The order comes as the Kremlin is trying to restock the Russian
   military's depleted arsenal after nearly 22 months of fighting in
   Ukraine. Russia has lost more than 13,000 pieces of equipment,
   including tanks, drones and missile systems.

   Russia hit back against Washington's sanctions, saying they could lead
   to a rupture of diplomatic ties between Russia and the U.S.

   The United States "must not act under an illusion ... that Russia is
   clinging with both hands to diplomatic relations with that country,"
   the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei
   Ryabkov as saying Friday.

   Some Western politicians are urging that frozen Russian assets worth
   about $300 billion be given to Ukraine to help rebuild its
   war-shattered economy.

   Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that any such
   move would impair the global financial system.

   He said Russia would "never leave in peace" any country that seized its
   assets, and in such a scenario it would take retaliatory measures
   confiscating any Western assets it could.

   Jets to Ukraine

   The Netherlands will deliver 18 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, the Dutch
   government said Friday.

   The delivery of the fighter jets will take place after an export permit
   is issued by the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry and after Ukraine
   fulfills the criteria for its staff and infrastructure, Dutch Prime
   Minister Mark Rutte said, without offering a timeline for these
   decisions.

   The announcement made it possible to reserve funds, though, and to
   prepare planes for delivery, the government said.

   "I spoke with Mark Rutte to thank the Dutch government for its decision
   to start preparing the initial 18 F-16 jets for their delivery to
   Ukraine," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday on social
   media platform X.

   The Netherlands sent its first U.S.-made F-16s to a new training
   facility in Romania last month for Ukrainian pilots and staff.

   Denmark, Norway and Belgium also have announced they will give F-16
   jets to Ukraine after the U.S. government approved sending them as soon
   as pilot training is completed.

   Ukrainian-Polish talks

   Ukraine and Poland said Friday they were ready to try to resolve
   "problematic" issues in their relations, especially after a Polish
   truckers' blockade at border crossings between the two countries.

   During a meeting in Kyiv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and
   his Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski, pledged to resolve the
   differences between their countries.

   An air raid siren sounded during a news conference by the two men in
   Kyiv, which was targeted by another large-scale Russian drone attack
   overnight.

   "This alarm you hear is the reason why I am here. It is unacceptable
   ... in this titanic fight, Poland is on your side," Sikorski said.

   The Ukrainian capital was attacked by a barrage of Russian drones early
   Friday, officials said, injuring at least two people in the sixth drone
   attack on the city this month.

   Ukraine said it shot down 24 of the 28 Iranian-made drones Russia
   launched toward Kyiv.

   Russia said its air defenses intercepted five Ukrainian drones south of
   Moscow in less than an hour Friday.

   The defense ministry said four were intercepted over the Kaluga region
   and a fifth was destroyed inside the Moscow region. According to Moscow
   Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, fragments of the drone had fallen in the city of
   Podolsk, but no casualties or damage had been reported.

   Ukraine said Thursday that Russia had launched about 7,400 missiles and
   3,700 Iranian-made Shahed drones at targets across Ukraine during the
   22-month war.

   Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence
   France-Presse and Reuters.