Russia announces sanctions against Biden and top US officials

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Russia has imposed "retaliatory sanctions" against President Biden, a number of his top administration officials, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Biden's son Hunter Biden amid its ongoing war with Ukraine.

According to Russian state-owned news agency Tass, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday imposed "personal sanctions against representatives of the U.S. leadership and persons associated with them."

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The sanctions, according to the report, were imposed "in response to a series of unprecedented sanctions prohibiting, among other things, entry into the United States for top officials of the Russian Federation." 

President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin enter the "Villa la Grange" during their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

The report said that as of March 15, Biden and the other individuals listed would be included on a Russian "stop list" on the "basis of reciprocity departments and well-known American figures."

The individuals included on the list are President Biden, Hunter Biden, Clinton, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA Director William Burns, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, deputy assistant national security adviser Duleep Singh, Director of the Agency for International Development Samantha Power, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo  and president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank Reta Joe Lewis.

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When asked about the sanctions during the White House briefing Tuesday, Psaki quipped: "I would first note that president Biden is a junior, so they may have sanctioned his dad. May he rest in peace." 

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley talk before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 2021.  (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool via AP)

"The second piece, I would say, is that won't surprise any of you, that none of us are planning tourist trips to Russia," Psaki said. "None of us have bank accounts that we won't be able to access." 

She added: "So we will forge ahead." 

Clinton also reacted to the sanctions on Twitter. 

"I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award," Clinton tweeted Tuesday afternoon. 

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The sanctions come after the U.S. and Western allies have imposed severe and crippling sanctions on Russia, including on President Vladimir Putin.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Biden last month sanctioned major Russian banks, including VTB, Sberbank, Bank Otkritie, Sovcombank OJSC and Novikombank. The sanctions made it harder for Russia to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a photo opportunity with Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu at the State Department, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

The U.S. sanctions also target Russia elites: Sergei Ivanov and his son Sergei, Andrey Patrushev and his son Nikolai, Igor Sechin and his son Ivan, Andrey Puchkov, Yuriy Solviev and two real estate companies he owns, Galina Ulyutina and Alexander Vedyakhin.

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The sanctions also limit the borrowing opportunities for 13 Russian entities and enterprises, according to the U.S.: Sberbank, AlfaBank, Credit Bank of Moscow, Gazprombank, Russian Agricultural Bank, Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Transneft, Rostelecom, RusHydro, Alrosa, Sovcomflot and Russian Railways.

The U.S. and its partners have also said they would go after the Russian military and Belarusian individuals and entities for their support for the invasion.

Also last month, the United States, Canada and European allies announced additional sanctions that would remove "selected" Russian banks from the SWIFT financial system.

SWIFT provides messaging services to banks in over 200 countries and is controlled by the central banks of the G-10, including Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland and Sweden.

The sanction has been used by the EU in Iran in 2012 and in 2018.

Last week, Biden moved to ban all imports of Russian oil, gas and energy to the United States, targeting the "main artery" of Russia’s economy.

Biden also called for an end to normal trade relations with Russia and said last week that the United States is banning the import of Russian seafood, vodka and diamonds.

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Revoking Russia's "most favored nation" status will allow for increased tariffs on imports from the country in addition to the crushing sanctions already imposed as a consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But it must be done by Congress. Biden highlighted bipartisan support for the move in a Friday announcement in conjunction with other G7 and European Union leader. 

Russia’s economy is struggling under the weight of the sanctions, and a deep recession is predicted in the country, according to the IMF. 

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According to U.S. intelligence, confirmed by Fox News, after its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russia asked China for military and economic aid. In an attempt to protect intelligence sources, U.S. officials have been reluctant to detail what type of aid is being sought.

"We do have deep concerns about China’s alignment with Russia at this time," a senior administration official said Monday, noting that U.S. officials have been "direct about those concerns and the potential implications and consequences of certain actions" with their Chinese counterparts.