US, EU poised to impose sanctions on Russia: reports

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The United States and the European Union are set to impose individual sanctions on Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing officials who leaked the information on the condition of anonymity.

The White House will seek to inflict damage on Russia through several Russian state-linked financial institutions, such as the Russian Deposit Insurance Agency, National Payment Card System (Mir), Central Counterparty National Clearing Center, and the National Settlement Depository, the WSJ report said.

Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Pankin revealed in late August that the Bank of Russia was actively developing the Financial Message Transmission System.

Russia believes that a gradual shift from the SWIFT interbank payment system to more secure channels for sending financial information protected from external pressure is necessary, Pankin told TASS in an interview.

Last February, Russian banks were excluded from the SWIFT interbank payment system by the decision of the European Commission and its allies. The maneuver was intended to hit the country's banking network and its access to funds via SWIFT, which is pivotal for the smooth transaction of money worldwide.

Reportedly, the Biden administration also seeks to block more Russian banks from accessing the SWIFT system, imposing export controls on further goods, and imposing sanctions on more companies run by Moscow.

The European Commission is likely to head in the direction of proposing additional import and export controls and sanctioning more Russian officials and pro-Russian forces in Ukraine.

The key good Brussels is seeking to impose a ban on is nonindustrial rough diamonds, a major source for Belgium's diamond industry.

The EU may also ban importing Russian steel and steel-related products, chemicals, and machinery. Brussels is also expected to tighten export controls on components that could be used in weaponry, aviation, and hydraulics, according to WSJ.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said the pressure the United States and its allies have been exerting on Russia has both conceptually and practically run its course.

"Sanction pressure has run its course conceptually, and it has exhausted itself tangibly. There are many in the West who admit that the sanctions are not working," he said.

Read next: US sanctions crusade against Moscow has run its course: Deputy FM

As the hysteric sanctions on Russia started taking place, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree back in May authorizing the use of new special tit-for-tat economic measures in response to hostile activities by certain foreign nations and international organizations.

The document forbids fulfilling obligations and finalizing deals with foreign persons and legal organizations under retaliatory restrictive measures, as well as exporting raw materials and goods from Russia for the benefit of these individuals.

According to the decree, these measures are taken to protect Russia’s national interests "due to unfriendly actions which contradict international law by the United States of America and foreign states and international organizations that joined them directed at illegitimately depriving the Russian Federation, the citizens of the Russian Federation and Russian legal entities of property right and restricting their property right."