News & Insights

Help
475 News Results

With the approach of a planned referendum on the future of Crimea on March 16, the United States Congress has moved to increase pressure on Russia and its supporters in Ukraine through a combination of threatened sanctions and promised support for Ukraine's new government. First, on March 6, the House passed a bill providing $1 billion in loan guarantees to aid the new government of Ukraine and support the country's financial stability (see linked H.R. 4152). Next, in a resolution passed with a strong bipartisan majority on March 11, the House condemned the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations reported out a bill introduced by Senator Menendez authorizing sanctions against Ukrainians and Russians responsible for threatening violence or undermining peace in Ukraine, as well as those responsible for "significant corruption" in Ukraine and Russia. While the bill has yet to be assigned a number, a copy of it is attached below. There is also attached a resolution passed by the Senate on March 11 condemning "illegal Russian aggression in Ukraine" that, among other things, urges President Obama "to use appropriate diplomatic and economic

On Friday, the European Union issued a new list of twelve individuals (ten Russians and two Ukrainians) subject to travel bans and asset freezes in connection with their role in "undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine." Notably, the EU list is limited to officials, lawmakers, and military officers-it does not include any entities or private businessmen (so-called "cronies" of President Putin's administration). In contrast, the most recent U.S. sanctions list (UKRAINE2), issued Thursday under Executive Order 13661, contained a number of

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced legislation on April 30, 2014, providing for the imposition of more aggressive sanctions against Russia, including measures directed against all Russian senior officials, the country's largest energy companies and Russian financial institutions. In a statement, Senator Corker took exception to what he described as the Obama Administration's reactive approach to the crisis in Ukraine, and expressed his desire to "inflict more direct consequences on Russia prior to Vladimir Putin taking

On May 20, 2014, the U.S. State and Treasury Departments announced that an additional 12 Russian individuals were sanctioned pursuant to the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act ("Magnitsky Act"). The Magnitsky Act authorizes the State and Treasury Departments to designate not only individuals who were involved in the detention and death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, but also those responsible for gross human rights abuses against individuals seeking to (i) expose illegal activity carried out by Russian government officials; or (ii) obtain, exercise, defend or promote