US issues fresh Russia-related sanctions, targets defence procurement network

WASHINGTON: The United States imposed fresh Russia-related sanctions on Tuesday, targeting a defense procurement network consisting of people and entities in Belgium, Sweden and Hong Kong, among other places, as Washington cracks down on Moscow’s evasion of Western sanctions.

The US Treasury Department said in a statement the network, led by Belgium-based Hans De Geetere, is involved in procuring electronics with military applications for Russian end-users and consists of nine entities and five people based in Russia, Belgium, Cyprus, Sweden, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands.

The US Department of Justice also unsealed two separate indictments against De Geetere related to his scheme to export sensitive, military-grade technology from the United States to end users located in China and Russia, while the Department of Commerce added De Geetere and five entities to its entity list.

“The United States and our allies remain focused on disrupting any attempts by Russia or its trusted agents to gain access to the critical inputs and technologies necessary to support Moscow’s defense industry and facilitate its brutal war in Ukraine,” Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in the statement.

The US Treasury Department separately imposed sanctions on 11 entities and seven people in a move it said was aimed at increasing the pressure on Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko over what it called his suppression of democratic civil society, corrupt financial enrichment of his family and complicity in Russia’s war in Ukraine.