December 22, 2015•Update: December 22, 2015
WASHINGTON
U.S. treasury added 34 individuals and entities to the Ukraine-related sanctions list on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Treasury Department, the list includes 14 individuals and entities linked to those that have engaged in “evasion of existing sanctions”, six separatists and two former Ukrainian government officials “designated for threatening the security or stability of Ukraine” as well as "12 entities for operating in the Crimea region of Ukraine”.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) also identified a number of subsidiaries that are owned 50 percent or more by the previously-designated Russian banks VTB Bank, Sberbank, and Rostec.
“It is critical that Russia takes the steps necessary to comply with its obligations under the Minsk Agreements and to ensure a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine,” said John E. Smith, OFAC director in the statement released.
According to the Treasury, the sanctions will be rolled back when Russia has fully implemented its commitments under the Minsk Agreements, “including the return to Ukraine of control of its side of the international border with Russia” in reference to Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.
The Minsk cease-fire agreement includes the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from combat areas, as well as all foreign-armed groups. However, the agreement has failed to be fully implemented, with daily reports of breaches and clashes in the region.
More than 6,000 people have been killed and 1.4 million people internally displaced in the conflict between Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian separatists since April 2014, according to the UN.
