Biden to announce sanctions against members of Russia’s State Duma: Report

US President Joe Biden, who is due to travel to Poland on March 25 to discuss the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, is likely to announce fresh sanctions against Russia this week, according to a report.

The latest measures, expected to be announced a day before Biden’s Poland visit, will be against more than 300 members of the State Duma, the lower House of Russia’s Federal Assembly, the report said.

“Jake Sullivan, the US National Security advisor, said President Biden will announce these fresh sanctions while he is in Bruseels, Belgium, for his March 24 meeting with leaders of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and Washington’s European allies,” The Wall Street Journal reported, citing top American officials.

The sanctions will be announced in coordination with the European Union (EU) and the Group of Seven (G7), it added, however, also cautioning that such plans are often postponed or even changed during the review process prior to the final announcement.

For Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, western countries, including the United States, have imposed a host of sanctions against Moscow; those sanctioned include President Vladimir Putin, members of his administration, Russian oligarchs, among others. Kremlin retaliated by banning Biden and other top US officials, including secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin, from entering Russia.

According to Sastellum. Al, which tracks sanctions, Russia is the most sanctioned country in the world, as more than 7,100 restrictions have been announced it against 2014. The majority of these have come during the ongoing invasion.

Russia launched its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine on February 24.