Dmitry Rogozin, a deputy prime minister in Russia, was sanctioned by the United States on Monday.CreditRaveendran/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
In taking his action on Monday, Mr. Obama signed a new executive order intended to broaden the sanctions authority he already approved. Aides said he was targeting three broad categories of people: Russian government officials, arms sector figures, and others deemed to be working on behalf of Russian senior officials, the latter called “Russian government cronies” by a senior American official.
The order means that any assets owned by the targeted Russians in the United States will be frozen and Americans will not be allowed to do business with them. If they want to transact in dollars, they will no longer be able to do so, officials said. And the American action will influence foreign banks and other institutions not to do business with these Russians, officials said.
The sanctions are the second round approved by Mr. Obama. The first round banned visas for nearly a dozen Russian and Ukrainian individuals but did not include financial measures.
Mr. Obama held off a more expansive target list on Monday to leave room for future action if necessary. “We have the ability to escalate our actions in response to Russian actions,” a senior administration official told reporters.
Some of those targeted on Monday are among the most prominent Russian politicians. Mr. Surkov, for instance, is considered the architect of Mr. Putin’s highly centralized political system, dubbed “sovereign democracy.” He was the deputy chief of staff until being pushed out in 2011 amid street protests against Mr. Putin’s decision to reassume the presidency from the prime ministership, but Mr. Surkov was brought back into the Kremlin last year, albeit to a less significant post.
Still, in Moscow, the initial listing was met with public derision and even mockery, though privately there appeared to be relief that the sanctions had not reached any of Russia’s major economic or banking figures, as many had feared. In one measure of the reaction, Russia’s battered stock markets rose sharply at the end of the day as the American and European announcements were made.
Photo
Valentina Matviyenko, chairman of the Federation Council, the upper house of Parliament.CreditAlexander Demianchuk/Reuters
Before the sanctions were announced, the referendum in Crimea was greeted as a triumph, as senior lawmakers promised to move quickly to provide the legal basis for the peninsula to join Russia. The Kremlin announced that Mr. Putin would address both houses of Parliament on Tuesday, when he is expected to endorse the annexation, despite the broad international condemnation.
The highest ranking government official on the list, Mr. Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry, chided the American president as “Comrade Obama” and asked whether he had considered the fact that those on the list did not have property or assets abroad.
Mr. Klishas, chairman of the constitutional committee of the upper house of Parliament, which voted on March 1 to authorize the use of force in Ukraine, brushed aside the sanctions as well, saying they were “no tragedy for me.”
“I was quite happy with the company of people in which I found myself,” he told the Interfax news agency.
Continue reading the main story
Bill Cunningham's "Facades"
Continue reading the main story
Ms. Mizulina, who has gained prominence for her role in legislation banning adoptions by Americans and cracking down on pro-gay “propaganda” to minors, said her inclusion was “a revenge for my views.” In a statement sent by email, she also said neither she nor her family have property or accounts outside of Russia.
“I consider what has happened a rude violation of my rights and freedoms as a citizen and a politician,” she said.
American officials expect Moscow to retaliate.
Although the United States is not a large trading partner with Russia, a number of large American corporations are deeply involved in the Russian market, including ExxonMobil, Boeing, Ford and PepsiCo. Those businesses have been nervous about an escalation that would affect their representatives or operations in Russia.
American officials said they were braced for retribution but expressed confidence that they could do more harm to Russia than the other way around. “Russia stands a lot more to lose from political and economic isolation than the United States,” said the senior administration official. “The world is with us.”
