The United States, which was not a major consumer of Russian crude, had already banned its import. EU members, who are under pressure to implement this measure, rely more on Russia. On Sunday, the European Union continued intensive negotiations to impose an embargo on Russian oil.
In the meantime, the United States also announced new sanctions against Russia, affecting the media and the access of Russian companies and large fortunes to consulting and accounting services, American and British, two of the largest global specialists.
By blacklisting Channel One Russia, Russia 1 TV station and NTV Broadcasting Company, Washington is banning any US company from funding them by advertising or selling their equipment.
“No American company should be involved in funding Russian propaganda,” said a senior White House official, who asked not to be named.
The same source said that the decision also banned “audit services, management, consulting, marketing and all services used to operate multinational companies, but also potentially evading sanctions or hiding wealth acquired through evil.”
He emphasized that while Europeans have closer industrial ties with Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom, on the other hand, they have dominated the services world, particularly through the “Big Four”, the world’s four auditing and consulting giants: Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC.
Washington also announced a new ban on the export of US products to Russia, on all capital goods from dredges to ventilation systems and boilers.
Finally, he announced the imposition of visa restrictions on 2,600 Russian and Belarusian personalities, as well as sanctions against officials of Sberbank and Gazprombank.
