US to impose more sanctions on Russia, address violations by others: Janet Yellen

Reuters

The United States is working with its partners to impose more sanctions on Russia and address violations of the ones by other countries and institutions, visiting US treasury secretary Janet Yellen said in Bengaluru on February 23.

"We have ongoing work on sanctions. Working with our partners, we are seeking to strengthen sanctions and to make sure that we address violations of sanctions," Yellen said.

"We have made clear that providing material support to Russia or assistance with any kind of systemic sanctions evasion would be a very serious concern to us."

Yellen was speaking to reporters a day before the meeting of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors scheduled for February 24-25 in India's tech hub and the capital city of the southern state of Karnataka.

The first day of the meeting coincides with the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking specifically on the evasion of sanctions, Yellen said the US would continue to make clear to the Chinese government and to companies and banks that fall under its jurisdiction regarding the rules of the sanctions "and the serious consequences they would face for violating them".

"Beyond that, I really don't want to characterise US intelligence with respect to sanctions violations," Yellen added.

Yellen's comments come after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said over the weekend that China was considering providing ammunition and weapons to Russia in its war against Ukraine.

China has rejected these claims.

Yellen said Russia was looking for ways to "backfill" and the sanctions had deprived it of many channels through which it could obtain materials critical for its defence.

"That's a particular focus that we have in mind both with respect to enforcement and perhaps with respect to further sanctions," she said.

According to Yellen, the Russian military was struggling to replace more than 9,000 pieces of heavy military equipment it has lost since February 2022 and production had been shut down at key defence-industrial facilities.

"Our sanctions have had a very significant negative effect on Russia so far," she added.