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The Treasury Department has said it will freeze all assets of the Russian Central Bank in the United States in retaliation to the invasion of Ukraine, a New York Times war update says.
A freeze could hit nearly $650-billion reserves of the central bank and reduce Russia’s capacity to prolong the Ukraine crisis.
Russian Federation’s Direct Investment Fund is also in the crosshairs of the Biden Administration that is tryingto hit the Russian economy to prove that President Vladimir Putin’s march
to Kyiv has been a misadventure.
The Kremlin’s $185-billion sovereign wealth fund is among the
world’s richest and an embargo on it could have severe implications for the Russian
economy.
Sanctions against Moscow
The ruble value has plunged more than 25% to $0.0096 against
the US dollar since the major Western powers announced sanctions against
Moscow.
The Russian army marched into neighboring Ukraine on February
24, accompanied by heavy armor and shelling of civilian areas. Putin had been warning
Kyiv against attempts to enter Nato, which he sees as a threat to Russia.
The U.S. action comes after Putin put strategic deterrent forceson high alert on the heels of the West’s decision to expel several Russian
banks from the SWIFT network for seamless financial transaction around the
globe. Putin issued the orders at a globally televised meeting with top defense
officials, ensuring the nuclear threat reaches world capitals.