The U.K. amended the sanctions listing of Red Box Energy Services under its Russia sanctions regime on March 20. The entity's listing now says the company "has been involved" in the Russian energy sector instead of saying it "is involved" in the sector.
The U.K. made several changes to its sanctions list this week for entries involving Russia and Belarus.
Imports into the EU of birch and other types of plywood have proven to be a “major source of revenue” for Russia and Belarus and are frequently being used to evade EU sanctions, the European Commission said in a sanctions alert last week.
President Donald Trump has instructed the Treasury Department to increase sanctions "to bring President [Vladimir] Putin to the table," if necessary, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. He stated that Trump had "instructed [him] to rethink the sanctions regime" and that the administration is "going for the maximum impact sanctions."
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The Group of 7 nations last week discussed imposing more sanctions against Russia if it doesn't agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, including potentially a more strict cap on oil prices, they said in a joint statement after meeting in Quebec. They said any ceasefire “must be respected” and include “robust and credible security arrangements to ensure that Ukraine can deter and defend against any renewed acts of aggression.” The countries -- the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.K., plus a representative from the EU -- also “condemned” military aid, along with the provision of weapons and dual-use components to Russia, by China, Iran and North Korea. The statement said China is “a decisive enabler of Russia’s war and of the reconstitution of Russia’s armed forces. We reiterated our intention to continue to take action against such third countries.”
Former U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan defended the Biden administration's final weeks of moves that imposed sanctions against Russia and export controls on China, saying they set up the current administration for success.
Denmark is considering new legislation that could punish EU sanctions violators by sentencing them to up to eight years in prison, an uptick from the current maximum four-month sentence, the country’s Ministry of Justice said this week. And if there are "aggravating circumstances," the ministry said, certain offenders could face up to eight years, according to an unofficial translation.
It’s possible that the Trump administration offers Russia some “symbolic” sanctions relief as part of peace negotiations with Ukraine, but the broader lifting of sanctions on Russia’s oil sector is more unlikely, a former U.S. sanctions official said this week.
The EU General Court last week rejected Russian oligarch Alexander Ponomarenko's application to annul his sanctions listing after he argued the European Council violated his procedural rights, committed "manifest errors of assessment" and violated principles of fundamental law.