The U.S. hasn’t ruled out imposing sanctions against Russia for its potential involvement in the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline last month, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters June 2. While President Joe Biden has said he doesn’t believe the Russian government was involved in the attack, he said the people behind the attack are likely living in Russia. “We’re not taking options off of the table,” Psaki said when asked whether the U.S. was considering more sanctions. Psaki said Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin may discuss the matter when they meet later this month. She also said the U.S. is “doing our own review of a range of options.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control renewed a general license authorizing transactions between certain companies and Petroleos de Venezuela SA, OFAC said June 1. General License No. 8H, which replaces No. 8G (see 2011170015), authorizes transactions between PdVSA and Chevron, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International, with certain restrictions, through 12:01 a.m. EST Dec. 1. The license was scheduled to expire June 3.
The United Nations Security Council renewed its arms embargo and asset freezes against South Sudan for another year, the council said May 28. The UNSC renewed the embargo and sanctions until May 31, 2022, but it said it is ready to “review” the measures, including the “progressive lifting” of the embargo, due to the “progress achieved” by the country. It extended the mandate for the South Sudan panel of experts until July 1, 2022.
The Treasury Department met with non-governmental organizations last week amid criticism that U.S. sanctions are unintentionally affecting humanitarian aid shipments (see 2105260047). Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, who is leading a review of the agency’s sanctions programs (see 2105270041), met with 11 NGOs to ensure sanctions are “thoughtfully calibrated to target malign actors and activity while balancing essential humanitarian activities,” Treasury said May 27. The agency is also “closely evaluating” feedback on how sanctions are affecting human rights, corruption and persecuted minority and diaspora communities.
The Council of the European Union announced it is extending restrictive measures against the Syrian regime until June 1, 2022, a May 27 news release said. The one-year extension comes “in light of the continued repression of the civil population in the country.” The current list imposes an assets freeze and a travel ban on 283 individuals, and an assets freeze on an additional 70 entities. The measures were introduced in 2011.
China sanctioned Johnnie Moore, a former commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, for his role in publishing the State Department's 2020 report on international religious freedom, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at a May 26 news conference, according to a transcript in English. The report was “fraught with ideological bias,” and has “severely interfered in China's internal affairs,” the spokesperson said. Moore and his family are barred from entering mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong. The sanction is “counterproductive,” USCIRF Chair Anurima Bhargava said May 27. “It will only draw more international attention to the atrocities and horrors being perpetrated by the Chinese government against the Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, and countless other Chinese citizens.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control released its Myanmar Sanctions Regulations to implement a February executive order that authorized sanctions against the country for the military-led coup earlier this year (see 2102100060). The regulations, effective June 1, were released in an “abbreviated form” to give “immediate guidance to the public,” OFAC said in a notice. The agency plans to supplement the regulations with more “interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions.” The regulations include general definitions, information on blocked and exempt transactions, licensing requirements and penalties.
Foreign ministers from the G7 countries said they are considering imposing more sanctions against Belarus (see 2105250027) for diverting a civilian plane earlier this week to arrest a journalist. In a May 27 statement, the ministers said they will “enhance” efforts, “including through further sanctions as appropriate, to promote accountability for the actions of the Belarusian authorities.”
U.S. and European officials condemned Belarus’ diversion of a civilian Ryanair flight this week for the purpose of arresting a journalist and called for global sanctions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 21 designated three entities and 13 vessels under the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act (PEESA), which authorizes sanctions against Russia’s energy sector and its use of energy export pipelines. OFAC also issued a general license to exempt certain transactions with one of the sanctioned entities and issued two new frequently asked questions.