State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that the United States took some time to draft new restrictions against Russia, which are planned to be announced on February 23.
During a regular press conference, when asked why Washington waited until Friday to release information about the new restrictions, Miller said, "Preparing these sanction packages takes time."
He also spoke about the actions taken by Washington after Russia began its special military operation in Ukraine: "If you have been following, you would have seen that we have introduced a significant number of sanction packages during this time. We have not delayed anything.. There was nothing of that sort."
Miller assured that the United States would strive to impose new sanctions as quickly as possible if necessary, particularly if there were attempts to circumvent the sanctions.
He was non-committal when asked if there were plans to impose restrictions based on the decree signed by President Joe Biden in December 2023, which allows for the imposition of restrictions on financial institutions that, according to Washington, conduct transactions on behalf of the Russian Federation's military-industrial complex.
Earlier, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed that the United States would announce a significant sanctions package against Russia on February 23 "to hold it accountable" for the death of opposition figure Alexey Navalny.
Kirby said during a press conference on Tuesday, "Under President Biden's direction, we will announce a significant sanctions package on Friday to hold Russia accountable for what happened with Mr. Navalny."
He added that the new sanctions would also be imposed due to the events in Ukraine, without revealing further details about them.
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