“The asset freeze on the additional banks is not nothing, but this is not the most significant tranche we have seen so far,” said Daniel Tannebaum, a partner at Oliver Wyman who advises banks on sanctions.
Other US agencies are joining in to put pressure on Russia.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Justice Department and FBI officials also announced a series of actions and criminal charges against Russians, including the removal of a Russian dark web marketplace and botnet, or a network of hijacked devices that have been infected. with malware, which is managed by the country’s military intelligence.
Justice Department officials also celebrated the seizure of the Tango, a superyacht owned by Russian oligarch Viktor F. Vekselberg, and accused a Russian banker, Konstantin Malofeev, of conspiring to violate US sanctions. Malofeev is one of Russia’s most influential magnates and one of the most prominent conservatives in the country’s Kremlin-affiliated elite. (The indictment lists his last name as Malofeyev.)
During the hearing, Ms Yellen told lawmakers that she believed that Russia should be further isolated from the geopolitical system, including the exclusion of international gatherings such as the Group of 20 meetings this year, and that she should be added to the list this month. denounced at the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. She added that the United States may not participate in some G20 meetings to be held in Indonesia this year if Russians are present.
Ms Yellen, whose department has developed many of the punitive economic measures, refuted criticism that the penalties imposed so far have been ineffective, partly because there are some exceptions that allow Russia to sell energy.
The war between Russia and Ukraine and the world economy
“Unfortunately, many of our European partners remain heavily dependent on Russian natural gas and oil, and they are determined to get rid of that dependence as soon as possible,” said Ms Yellen. The finance minister downplayed the revival of Russia’s currency, the ruble, which collapsed after sanctions were imposed in February but has since regained its value. Ms Yellen said the ruble’s apparent recovery was the result of currency controls put in place by Russia and that the exchange rate did not reflect its true value.
“The Russian economy is really reeling from the sanctions we’ve put in place,” Ms Yellen said, adding: “You shouldn’t really infer anything from the value of the currency.”
