The United States Congress has agreed to impose further economic sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, stripping the country of its ‘most favoured nation’ trade status and another ban on oil imports.
On Thursday, the lawmakers approved legislation that would discontinue normal trade relations between Washington and Moscow and ban Russian oil imports.
The Senate voted 100-0 in favour of the measure removing Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status for both Russia and Belarus.
Shortly afterwards, it backed the energy measure, also by a 100-0 tally. Both bills now require the assent of President Joe Biden.
Mr Biden supportED the measures and will sign them into law, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told Reuters.
The legislation covers sanctions on Russian gold, a lease agreement with Ukraine on the provision of military aid and an expansion of sanctions on human rights abuses under the Magnitsky Act, which authorizes the U.S. government to sanction human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and ban them from entering the U.S.
Mr Biden’s administration said the sanctions the U.S. and over 30 other nations already enacted had damaged the Russian economy, predicting Russia’s GDP will contract up to 15 per cent this year.
“Russia will very likely lose its status as a major economy, and it will continue a long descent into economic, financial, and technological isolation,” the White House said.
The White House said it would continue to impose serious and immediate economic costs on the Vladimir Putin regime for its atrocities in Ukraine, including killing civilians in Bucha.
