President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order expanding US sanctions authority against Russia and aimed at further isolating Russia’s military and defence sector from the global economy.
The order will provide the Treasury Department with authority to issue so-called “secondary sanctions”, which will target banks and other financial institutions that facilitate the business of companies involved in the importing of technology required for the assembly of arms and munitions for Russia’s military. Previously, such secondary sanctions authority had been primarily used against companies working with corporate and other interests tied to Iran and North Korea, and has been credited with the effectiveness of isolating those countries from the US financial system.
