The US placed sanctions on Wednesday on some of Russia’s most prominent companies including oil group Rosneft in its most decisive move yet to exert economic pressure on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
The new companies on the US sanctions blacklist include several Russian banks and energy companies which will be blocked from long-term US financing, while a group of defence companies will have their assets blocked.
The US stopped short of placing sanctions on entire sectors of the Russian economy. However in addition to Rosneft, the country’s biggest oil group, the companies targeted for sanctions include two of Russia’s biggest banks, Gazprombank and VEB, as well as Novatek, the largest independent natural gas producer.