US to Unveil New Export Controls, Sanctions Against Russia, Official Says

The Biden administration this week will announce a new set of export controls and sanctions aimed at impeding Russia’s ability to continue fighting Ukraine, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said June 11.

“We’re going to continue to drive up costs for the Russian war machine,” Kirby told reporters. “The actions will target the entities and networks that are helping Russia procure what it needs for its war. It will make it harder for financial facilitators, for instance, to support Russia’s defense industrial base, and it will further restrict Russia’s future revenues in key sectors.”

Kirby's comments came less than a week after House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged President Joe Biden to take more action to disrupt China’s support for Russia’s war machine.

McCaul said in a June 6 letter to Biden that U.S. sanctions against China have failed to stem the flow of Chinese machine tools and microelectronics to Russia, and that Russia has used those dual-use goods to rebuild its military after sustaining heavy losses in its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He also said the administration has rebuffed recent requests to update lawmakers on the matter.

"Your administration’s failure to crack down in any meaningful way on this unholy alliance between our nation’s enemies cannot continue, nor can the administration’s refusal to brief members of Congress on this issue," McCaul wrote.

While the White House had no immediate comment on the letter, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a Senate panel last week that the administration plans to impose sanctions to counter China's shipments to Russia (see 2406040070). She noted that a new executive order gives the U.S. broader authority to sanction financial firms that facilitate shipments to Russia (see 2312220023).

The administration announced last month that it is sanctioning more than 280 entities and people in Russia and third countries for helping Moscow sustain its military (see 2405010072).