Biden condemns Moscow’s “fraudulent annexation attempt” and sanctions the governor of the Russian Central Bank

Sep. 30 () –

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has unmitigatedly condemned the “fraudulent annexation attempt” carried out this Friday by Russia of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, a gesture of “contempt” for peace that Washington has responded immediately with new sanctions against the governor of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, and members of the two chambers of the country’s Legislative branch, among others.

“Let no one be deceived,” Biden has made known. “These actions have no legitimacy and the United States will always honor the Ukrainian borders recognized by the international community,” he added in the statement released this afternoon by the White House.

With this “annexation attempt”, Biden proclaims, Russia “violates international law, tramples on the United Nations Charter and shows its contempt for peaceful nations around the world”.

Thus, and “in response to the false declarations of annexation”, Biden has announced new sanctions that freeze the assets abroad of both the governor of the Central Bank, as well as her deputy, as well as 169 members of the Council of the Federation Russian, the equivalent of the Senate, and another hundred of the lower house, the Duma.

“Since becoming Governor of the Central Bank in 2013, Nabiullina has overseen efforts to protect the Kremlin from Western sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea in Ukraine in 2014 and the invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” according to a Treasury Department statement that also sanctions the bank’s ‘number two’, Olga Skorobogatova, responsible for the supervision of Russia’s National Mir Payment System.

The sanctions also punish relatives of senior Russian officials already penalized by the United States, such as the wife and two adult daughters of the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, or the wife and two eldest sons of the country’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin.

“We are going to mobilize the international community to denounce these movements and to hold Russia responsible for them,” Biden assured before guaranteeing that his country “will continue to provide Ukraine with the equipment it needs to defend itself, without being intimidated by the brazen effort of Russia for redrawing its neighbor’s borders.

“I urge all members of the international community to reject Russia’s illegal annexation attempts and to support the people of Ukraine for as long as necessary,” the statement concludes.