President Obama announced new punitive measures last week to expand the initial sanctions on Russia for its moves in the Crimea. The measures, along with steps outlined by the European Union, impose asset freezes and travel bans on some Russian officials and target a Russian bank.
Here is what the sanctions do and what their possible impact:
What Steps Were Taken?
President Obama signed an executive order on March 17 targeting 11 people, mostly Russian. Then on March 20, he announced that 20 other people and Bank Rossiya were being added to the list.
The action was coordinated with the EU, which initially targeted 21 people and then added 12 more to the list.
What Effect Have They Had?
The March 17 announcement imposed travel bans and asset freezes on some Russian officials. Reaction in Moscow was dismissive. But the measures announced on March 20 appear to have had a greater impact.
Visa and MasterCard briefly stopped processing payments to SMP bank, whose co-owners Boris and Arkady Rotenberg were sanctioned. Bank Rossiya, the country's 19th largest and believed to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also hit by the credit card companies. In effect, Bank Rossiya can't engage in dollar-based transactions.
This has implications far beyond the U.S. As the Economist notes:
"Western banks, mindful of recent government probes of HSBC and Standard Chartered for breaking similar embargoes, will not want to go near them. For many of the Russians and Ukrainians named this will matter little. For others, such as Gennady Timchenko, the boss of an oil-trading firm called Gunvor that, according to the Treasury department, has links to the Kremlin, the sanctions are likely to hurt."