US Warns About Increasing Use of Intermediaries to Evade Russia Sanctions [Video]

Washington — 

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered an unprecedented wave of U.S. sanctions on Russia.

In the year since the onslaught, the U.S. The Treasury Department has sanctioned about 2,400 entities and individuals, while the Commerce Department has imposed prohibitive controls on exports to Russia and its ally Belarus.

While the Biden administration says the restrictions have “significantly degraded” Russia’s military-industrial complex and supply chains, it appears equally concerned that Moscow has proved increasingly adept at skirting the sanctions.

Using intermediaries, Russian companies continue to ship oil across the globe despite wide-ranging Western sanctions on its energy industry, while at the same time importing U.S. and European technology through intermediaries in countries that have not imposed sanctions on Russia.

In a bid to close the loophole, the Biden administration has been homing in on what it calls “evasion-related targets,” designating more than 200 entities in connection with evading the sanctions. …