The countries behind the Russian oil price cap on Feb. 16 released changes to the cap's attestation model in a bid to "strengthen the compliance regime and reduce routes for circumvention," the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The changes require per-voyage attestations and itemized ancillary cost information on request.
Taiwan added 77 items to its list of goods subject to export controls on Russia and Belarus, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced, according to an unofficial translation. The additional export controls take effect March 8 and are imposed to prevent the Russian military from using Taiwan's high-tech products in Ukraine. The items include milling and grinding machines, lathes and turning machines and machining centers.
The Biden administration is considering “a whole number of options” to respond to the reported death in prison of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, President Joe Biden told reporters on Feb. 16 when asked if he is looking at increasing sanctions on Russia.
A senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said the dissection of Russian military equipment used in the Ukraine war frequently uncovers Western-made microchips.
Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins said she is “very confident” Australia and the U.K. will qualify to receive International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) exemptions from the U.S., a key requirement for the AUKUS trilateral security partnership.
U.S. agencies met with European officials at a “Sanctions Coordinators Forum” Feb. 14 in Brussels to “discuss impacts and enforcement of our Russia sanctions regimes," the State Department said in a news release. State, along with the Commerce and Treasury departments, met with senior EU and member state government officials and delegations from the U.K. and Ukraine on topics including “the use of targeted sanctions to deter and disrupt malign Russian activity and to demonstrate our readiness to take action to defend international norms.”
A new proposed rule from the Treasury Department could make investment advisers subject to certain anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act. The agency said the measures could close a loophole that allows sanctioned companies, including in China, to invest in U.S. companies and access sensitive technology.
DOJ this week completed the forfeiture of a U.S.-origin Boeing 747 after a monthslong effort to seize the plane from Mahan Air, a sanctioned Iranian airline.
Kristina Puzyreva, a Russian and Canadian national, pleaded guilty on Feb. 12 to conspiracy to commit money laundering for her role in a scheme to export unnamed aerial vehicle parts, guided missile system components and other weapons to sanctioned Russian entities, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. She faces up to 20 years in prison.
The U.K. will allow a general license involving the price cap on Russian oil to expire later this month, according to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The license, set to expire Feb. 18, authorizes the supply or delivery by ship of Russian crude oil and oil products below the $60 per barrel price cap. The U.K. didn't provide more information.