WASHINGTON DC — The entire G7 club of rich
nations is “committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil,” the
White House said Sunday, escalating pressure on President Vladimir Putin over
the invasion of Ukraine.
اضافة اعلان
“This will hit hard at the main artery of Putin’s
economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war,” the Biden
administration said in a statement, without specifying exactly what commitments
the G7 members — France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, Britain, and the US —
have made.
The West has so far shown coordination in its
announcements of sanctions against Russia, but has not moved at the same pace
when it comes to Russian oil and gas.
The US, which was not a major consumer of Russian
hydrocarbons, has already banned their import.
But Europe is far more reliant on Russian oil. The
EU has already said it is aiming to cut its reliance on Russian gas by
two-thirds this year, though Germany has opposed calls for a full boycott, with
member states continuing intense negotiations Sunday.
The G7 held its third meeting of the year on Sunday
via video conference, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
participating.
The choice of date is highly symbolic: Europeans
commemorate the end of World War II in Europe on May 8.
Sunday’s meeting also comes on the eve of the May 9
military parade in Russia, which marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi
Germany.
Washington also announced a new round of sanctions
against Russia in a White House statement on Sunday, focusing on two major
areas: the media, and access by Russian companies and wealthy individuals to
world-leading US accounting and consulting services.
The US will sanction Joint Stock Company Channel One
Russia, Television Station Russia-1, and Joint Stock Company NTV Broadcasting
Company. Any US company will be prohibited from financing them through
advertising or selling them equipment.
“US companies should not be in the business of
funding Russian propaganda,” said a senior White House official who requested
anonymity, stressing that these media were directly or indirectly controlled by
the Kremlin.
Another line of attack by Washington: banning the
provision of “accounting, trust, and corporate formation, and management
consulting services to any person in the Russian Federation,” according to the
White House.
Those services are used to run multinational
companies, but also potentially to circumvent sanctions or hide ill-gotten
wealth, the White House official said.
The official stressed that while the Europeans had
the closest industrial links with Russia, the US, and the UK dominated the
world of accounting and consulting, notably through the “Big Four” — the four
global audit and consulting giants Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC.
Washington has
also announced new bans on the export of American products to Russia, covering
a range of capital goods from bulldozers to ventilation systems and boilers.
The US announced on Sunday that it would impose visa
restrictions on 2,600 Russian and Belarusian officials, as well as sanctions
against officials of Sberbank and Gazprombank.
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