The US Treasury and State Departments sanctioned more than 250 companies and individuals in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, alleging that their continuing support for Russia has been crucial to sustaining its invasion of Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.
The measures take aim at what the US agencies calls Russia’s procurement network, a loose coalition of companies that help keep it supplied with cutting-edge technology and weapons in violation of American sanctions and export controls.
Despite penalties levied on Russia after its invasion, the US and its allies have struggled to keep these goods from entering the Russian market.
The action Tuesday came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Washington in an effort to persuade Congress to vote on an aid package including $60 billion for Ukraine despite Republican insistence that it be tied to a crackdown on immigration at the US border with Mexico.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement that Tuesday’s sanctions will “continue to tighten the vise on willing third-country suppliers and networks providing Russia the inputs it desperately needs to ramp up and sustain its military-industrial base.”
Treasury said it’s sanctioning a network of four entities and nine individuals operating across China, Hong Kong and Pakistan to keep Russia supplied with Chinese-made weapons and technologies, including selling millions of dollars in semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Russian customers along with drones and related components. The network is connected to Chinese national Hu Xiaoxun and his private defense company Jarvis HK Co. Ltd., according to a Treasury statement.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Wednesday at a regular press briefing in Beijing that her nation “opposes unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.”
“The US should correct its wrong deeds, and stop oppressing and suppressing China’s businesses,” she said, adding that Beijing would “take concrete measures” to protect the rights of the nation’s firms.
Several Turkish individuals and companies were sanctioned for providing otherwise common components such as ball bearings, electronic integrated circuits and navigational aids. These items are used to keep the Russian war machine running, according to Treasury.
Several companies based in the UAE were sanctioned for selling aircraft parts and equipment to Russian firms. Treasury sanctioned a South Korean national named Dongjin Lee, who it accused of acting as a procurement agent for a sanctioned Russian firm.
The department also sanctioned an electronics firm based in Switzerland called Thamestone SA, which it said sent crucial components to Russia. Singapore-based Micro Electronics Technologies PTE LTD was also sanctioned along with several Russian firms.
The State Department is also sanctioning several shipping companies it says have helped transfer munitions from North Korea to Russia.