WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced new sanctions Thursday on more than a dozen Russian oligarchs and their families, as pressure continued to build on Capitol Hill for an even tougher response to Moscow a week after it invaded Ukraine, particularly banning imports of Russian oil and gas.
The White House imposed sanctions on 19 wealthy Russian individuals and 47 of their family members and close associates, including President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, and Alisher Usmanov, one of the wealthiest men in Russia.
Unwilling to engage Russia’s military directly, the U.S. and Europe have also increased their shipments of weapons and other materiel to Ukraine in recent days, as television coverage of Russia’s unprovoked aggression and social media posts from Ukraine have galvanized the West.
