The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two Russian nationals for their ties to LockBit, a Russia-based ransomware group. The designations target Ivan Gennadievich Kondratiev, a LockBit affiliate and leader of the National Hazard Society, a LockBit affiliate sub-group; and Artur Sungatov, a Lockbit ransomware group affiliate who has “actively engaged in LockBit ransomware attacks,” OFAC said.
The EU and the U.S. should try to reach a more “concrete” set of outcomes before the next Trade and Technology Council meeting in April and may discuss making the body permanent, said Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s top trade official. He said the two sides are “fleshing out new ideas” on supply chain, export controls and investment screening issues, and they want to make progress before the current European Commission term ends in October and before the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
The U.S. will announce "major" new sanctions against Russia this week, President Joe Biden told reporters Feb. 20 before leaving on a campaign trip. He said his administration will be releasing new sanctions on Russia as part of a package that will be announced Feb. 23.
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.