According to a report by the Guardian, the The US and the European Union have drawn up a list of sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian leaders over the unrest in Crimea. In a document obtained and posted online by Reuters, EU has sanctioned 21 officials in connection to the Crimea crisis. The UK newspaper said that the White House has followed up with its own sanctions, especially targeting seven top Russian government officials and politicians and four Crimea-based separatist leaders. Both indicated that a freeze asset order and a travel ban had been issued to the officials named in the documents.
Next week, US President Barack Obama will be discussion the Crimea situation with political allies. Addressing journalists present at the White House, he said the sanctions has increased the costs laid on Russia due to actions of the Russian parliament by President Vladimir Putin on making Crimea a 'formal' part of Russia after a secession vote declared that its citizens approved the union with Russia.
"If Russia continues to interfere in Ukraine, we stand ready to impose further sanctions. We will continue to make clear to Russia that further provocations will achieve nothing except to further isolate Russia and diminish its place in the world. (The sanctions were) by far and away the most comprehensive sanctions since the end of the Cold War."
An unnamed senior official told the Guardian about the sanctions, "We think they will be effective. No US business can do business with them - that will have impact on some or all of these individuals. If they want to transact in dollars, for example, they will be unable to do so and will tend to have difficulty in accessing financial services in Europe, the Middle East or Asia."
Among the 21 officials that EU will impose sanctions one is Crimea Prime Minister Sergey Valeryevich Aksyonov. EU said in its sanctions list that the secession vote Aksyonov spearheaded was deemed unconstitutional by acting Ukraine president Oleksandr Turchynov.
