Newsman: The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia targeting the country’s Central Bank. The sanctions effectively cut off Russia’s Central Bank from accessing assets either held in the U.S. or in U.S. dollars, severely restricting any effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin to blunt the effects of previous sanctions that have sent the country’s economy into a free fall.
The new US sanctions seems dealing a major impacts to Moscow’s economy, which holds more than $630 billion in foreign currency reserves.
In Moscow, Russia’s Central Bank sharply raised its key borrowing rate from 9.5% to 20% in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting ruble and prevent the run of banks amid crippling Western sanctions over the Russian war in Ukraine.
The Central Bank also ordered a slew of measures to help the banks cope with the crisis by infusing more cash into the system and easing restrictions for banking operations. At the same time, it temporarily barred non-residents from selling the government obligations to help ease the pressure on ruble from panicky foreign investors eager to cash out.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations are meeting at the Belarusian border for their first direct talks since Russia’s invasion began on Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said it would demand an immediate cease-fire.
