Yesterday, the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury announced the imposition of 300 sanctions, largely affecting Russia, but also China, Belarus, Türkiye, the U.A.E., and other countries, intended to “further degrade Russia’s ability to sustain its war machine and access to the material it needs to prosecute its illegal war against Ukraine,” according to a Treasury Department press release. It zeroes in on the point that Secretary of State Tony Blinken harped on during his April 26-29 trip to China—that the U.S., “like many of its international partners, is particularly concerned about entities in the People’s Republic of China and other third countries that provide critical inputs to Russia’s military industrial base.”
According to Financial Times, more than 300 Russian and international “entities,” including from China and Türkiye, are included, “for providing support to Moscow’s military as it wages war in Ukraine.” These include two Chinese groups that provided Moscow with nitrocellulose (an ingredient for gunpowder and rocket propellant), as well as Russian importers of these chemicals.” FT coyly notes that Washington “is also considering putting sanctions on Chinese banks"—which Blinken has threatened—but the targets announced yesterday don’t include any Chinese financial institutions … yet.
