U.S. Treasury Department "Clarifies" U.S. Sanctions on Russia

The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a “fact sheet” yesterday “to further clarify that agricultural commodities (including fertilizer), agricultural equipment, or medicine relating to Russia are not the target of U.S. sanctions.” The fact sheet came in the wake of the July 13 announcement from Istanbul that negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations had agreed on steps toward ensuring the export of agriculture products from Ukraine via the Black Sea. The Treasury said in its statement that the U.S. was also taking steps to expand the agricultural and medical authorizations to include agricultural machinery. The expansion “further reiterates that U.S. sanctions on Russia in response to its unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine do not stand in the way of agricultural and medical trade,” it said. (https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/126/russia_fact_sheet_20220714.pdf)