WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2023) US Treasury Under Secretary Brian Nelson urged business leaders in Austria to do more to block the flow of defense articles to Russia and crack down on any evasion of Western sanctions on Moscow, according to prepared remarks released by the Treasury on Friday.
"Together, we can stem the flow of defense-related and dual-use goods to Russia by targeting evasion," Nelson said in remarks at the American Chamber of Commerce Austria Roundtable. "Your firms should be carefully communicating with your financial and trade counterparts in jurisdictions that are at higher risk for evasion of Russia sanctions."
Nelson also praised the Western price cap on Russian oil, saying it had deprived Russia of its "most important source of revenue" by driving down the country's budget revenues by more than 40% in January and February compared to the previous year.
Senior Treasury officials Nelson and Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Elizabeth Rosenberg are currently touring Central Europe and Central Asia to urge countries and private sector entities to counter any evasion of Western sanctions on Russia.
Nelson is traveling to Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany from April 16-April 22, while Rosenberg is heading to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from April 23-April 28.
After the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the West, including the EU, rolled out a massive sanctions campaign against Moscow. To date, the US Treasury has added more than 2,500 Russia-related targets to its sanctions list.
