US, allies to boost Russia's efforts to avoid sanctions

 

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo is expected to say the Kremlin is doing everything it can to avoid Western sanctions.

The US and its allies are preparing to step up efforts to impose sanctions against Russia, threatening to hit foreign companies that help Moscow evade economic sanctions.

In a speech on Tuesday ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo is expected to say the Kremlin is doing everything it can to avoid Western sanctions.

According to the prepared text, Mr Adeyemo will say the US and its EU and Group of Seven allies are prepared to use sanctions, export controls and other tools to give companies doing business with Russia a tough choice: " an alliance representing half of global GDP to do business with, or to provide material assistance to Russia."

Mr. Adeyemo is set to say in his speech that Washington and its allies will also broaden export controls or sanction Russian companies that have been repurposed to help military efforts, for example with the armed services. By providing items such as chips from non-military electronics for .

He says Washington will also intensify efforts to identify and ban middlemen who helped Russia work around the cap on oil prices.

In his speech, Mr. Adeyemo set out to say that the US and its European allies are looking at ways to better share information to help identify foreign companies and countries that are helping Russia import key goods. are helping.

He says US and European officials are preparing to meet with foreign banks and companies to warn them they will be cut off from financial services and markets if they help Moscow circumvent sanctions.

According to the text, he will say, "We are providing intelligence and actionable information to enable countries to evade sanctions in their jurisdictions." And if they fail to do so, we and our allies have the various economic tools at our disposal to act on our own."

Russian trade has jumped with some nearby countries, prompting concerns that Moscow is undermining export controls in its neighbors by importing banned goods and then getting supplies across the border. There are also concerns about increased Chinese trade with Russia and Beijing's provision of key technologies such as semiconductors to Moscow.

However, Mr Adeyemo is quick to say that China does not produce the advanced semiconductors that Russia needs.

He is expected to say, "About 40 percent of the less advanced microchips Russia has received from China are defective."

In a separate call with reporters on Monday, Adeyemo said the US would go directly to Chinese companies and banks and make it clear they would face sanctions for providing aid to Russia. He said the US would highlight cases where it sees Chinese companies helping Russia evade Western sanctions.