U.S., Europe slap sanctions on Putin, other Russian officials

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Biden administration on Friday, February 25 joined the European Union in directly sanctioning President Vladimir Putin, as Russian forces continued a brutal invasion of Ukraine, threatening to take over the capital city of Kyiv, NBC News reports.

Putin has "perpetrated horrific aggression against Ukraine," the Treasury Department said in a release detailing the sanctions that also targeted Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other members of Russia's security council.

Treasury's actions essentially mean that any property or monetary assets Putin or his top advisers may have in the U.S. are frozen.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the decision to go after Putin’s finances was made after consultation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She said the sanctions also include a travel ban.

Sanctioning Putin is largely symbolic. The Russian leader has buried his wealth, making it difficult to freeze his assets. Asked by reporters Thursday whether the U.S. knew where Putin’s money was, deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh responded: “Not going to comment on that.”

Some experts have estimated that Putin's net worth is in the tens of billions.