Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

US sanctions on Russia: Indian American economic advisor plays crucial role

US sanctions on Russia: Indian American economic advisor plays crucial role

AN Indian American economic advisor is playing a crucial role to impose punitive sanctions on Russia over its actions against Ukraine.

Daleep Singh, deputy national security advisor for international economics and deputy director of the national economic council, made his second appearance in the White House press room in a short span.


“Russia’s long previewed invasion of Ukraine has begun and so too has our response. The president (Joe Biden) responded swiftly and in lockstep with allies and partners. The speed and coordination were historic. It took weeks and months to mount a decisive response,” Singh told reporters in his opening remarks.

Singh said that after consultations overnight with Germany, Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline will not become operational.

That is an $11 billion investment in a prized gas pipeline controlled by Russia that will now go to waste, and it sacrifices what would have been a cash cow for Russia’s coffers, he said.

Singh added: "We’ve demonstrated the potency of our financial sanctions and make no mistake, this is only the sharp edge of the pain we can inflict. In lockstep with our allies, we’re fully blocked from the global financial system, the fifth largest Russian financial institution, VEB, is a glorified piggy bank for the Kremlin that holds more than $50bn in assets.

"We’re also fully blocking Promsvyazbank, this is a bank that holds $35bn in assets that finances the activities of the Russian military."

According to Singh, a full block means these banks can no longer make any transactions with the US nor with Europe as Europe matched US actions, and their assets in America’s respective financial systems will be frozen.

Russian President Vladimir Putin this week signed decrees to recognise Ukraine’s regions of ‘Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics’ as ‘independent’. He also ordered Russian troops into eastern Ukraine in what the Kremlin called a “peacekeeping” mission in the Moscow-backed regions.

“Let me be totally clear, no Russian financial institution is safe if the invasion proceeds, we are ready to press a button to take action on the two largest Russian financial institutions, which collectively hold almost $750bn in assets for more than half of the total in the Russian banking system,” Singh asserted.

“Together with our allies, we’ve also cut off the Russian government, the Russian Central Bank and Russian Sovereign Wealth Funds from new financing from the US and Europe. The Kremlin can no longer raise money from the US or Europe and its new debt can no longer trade on the US, or European financial markets."

Singh added that the US has fully sanctioned a group of Russian elites and their family members. Other Russian elites and their family members are now on notice that additional actions could be taken on them as well, he said.

“I also want to take a minute to address a key part of the president’s speech on energy markets. We were deliberate to direct the pain of our sanctions towards the Russian economy, not ours. None of our measures are designed to disrupt the flow of energy to global markets and we are now executing a plan in coordination with major oil producers, and major oil consumers to secure the stability of global energy supplies,” the Indian American advisor said.

Singh said this was the beginning of an invasion and this was the beginning of the American response.

“The actions were only the first tranche. If Putin escalates further, we will escalate further using financial sanctions and export controls which we have yet to unveil, but which are fully prepared to implement with allies,” he added.

More For You

King Charles

King Charles, wearing a black armband to pay respects to the victims of Air India plane crash, attends the Trooping the Colour parade on his official birthday in London. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Victims remembered during King Charles's birthday parade

A MINUTE's silence for the victims of the Air India plane crash was observed on Saturday during the Trooping the Colour parade in London marking King Charles's official birthday. Some members of the royal family wore black armbands during the ceremony.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles, 76, had requested changes to the parade “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rochdale grooming case

They were all remanded in custody, except Bashir, who absconded before the trial began. (Photo: Greater Manchester Police)

Seven men convicted of raping 13-year-old girls in Rochdale grooming case

SEVEN men were convicted on Friday in the UK’s latest grooming trial, after a jury heard that two girl victims were forced to have sex “with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses”.

Jurors at the court in Manchester, northwest England, deliberated for three weeks before finding the seven men, all of whom are of South Asian descent, guilty of rape.

Keep ReadingShow less
karan-thakar

Karun Thakar is a leading textile collector with a lifelong focus on Asian and African textiles

Karun Collection

Karun Thakar Fund to support textile research with scholarships and grants

THE KARUN THAKAR FUND, established by textile collector Karun Thakar in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), supports the study of Asian and African textiles and dress through scholarships and project grants.

The fund offers one-time Scholarship Awards of up to £10,000 for university students worldwide focusing on any aspect of Asian or African textiles and dress. Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from any accredited university are eligible, provided their research or practice is clearly linked to these areas. The next round of Scholarship Award applications opens on 1 May 2025 and closes at 23:59 on July 15, 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India

A view shows the wreckage of the tail section of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from airport in Ahmedabad. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Probe focuses on engine and flaps; safety checks ordered for 787 fleet

THE INVESTIGATION into the Air India crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the aircraft's engine, flaps, and landing gear.

The Indian aviation regulator has ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, reported Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less