US issues new Russia-related sanctions, Treasury website shows

By Daphne Psaledakis and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday imposed hundreds of sanctions targeting Russia in an action that seeks to increase pressure on Moscow in the final days of the Biden administration and protects some of the sanctions it has already imposed ahead of Donald Trump's second presidential term.

The U.S. State and Treasury departments imposed sanctions on over 250 targets, including some based in China, taking aim at Russia's evasion of U.S. sanctions and its military industrial base. 

As part of the action, the Treasury imposed new curbs on almost 100 entities that were already under sanctions in a move that potentially complicates any future efforts to remove the measures ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday.

Russia's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

The Treasury in a statement said Washington was imposing fresh sanctions on almost 100 critical Russian entities - including Russian banks and companies operating in Russia's energy sector - that were previously sanctioned by the United States in a move it said increases secondary sanctions risk for them.

The new sanctions are issued under an executive order that a senior Treasury official said requires Congress to be notified before any of the actions can be reversed. 

Jeremy Paner, a partner at the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed, said the actions are "Trump-proofed," preventing reversal of the additional sanctions without congressional approval.

"You can't just with the stroke of a pen remove what's being done," he said.

Edward Fishman, a former U.S. official who is now a research scholar at Columbia University, calling it a "very significant action."

"It protects these sanctions against sort of any frivolous decision to lift them," he said. "It gives the new Trump administration more leverage with Russia."

Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was unclear how Trump, who succeeds President Joe Biden on Monday, will approach the issue of sanctions on Russia. Trump has been friendly toward Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past and said on Monday that he would aim to meet quickly with him to discuss Ukraine.

When asked about his strategy to end the war, Trump told Newsmax: "Well, there's only one strategy and it's up to Putin and I can't imagine he's too thrilled about the way it's gone because it hasn't gone exactly well for him either."

SANCTIONS EVASION SCHEME

Washington also took action against a sanctions evasion scheme established between actors in Russia and China, targeting regional clearing platforms in the two countries that it said have been working to allow cross-border payments for sensitive goods. The Treasury said several Russian banks under U.S. sanctions were participants.

China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Also hit with sanctions on Wednesday was Keremet Bank, a Kyrgyzstan-based financial institution the Treasury accused of coordinating with Russian officials and a bank designated by the United States to circumvent sanctions.

Keremet Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. State Department also imposed sanctions on Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.

The plant, located in Ukraine's south east, was captured by Russia shortly after it launched the invasion in 2022. It is shut down but needs external power to keep its nuclear material cool and prevent a meltdown.

The sanctions will not affect its operations, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday, citing the plant's spokeswoman.

The Biden administration has imposed rafts of punitive measures targeting Russia over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed or wounded thousands and reduced cities to rubble. Washington has repeatedly sought to counter the evasion of its measures.

Less than a week ago, the administration imposed its broadest package of sanctions so far targeting Russia's oil and gas revenues in an effort to give Kyiv and Trump's incoming team leverage to reach a deal for peace in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, David Brunnstrom, Steve Holland and David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)