US stock market has made slight gains after Joe Biden announced the new round of sanctions against Russia for recognizing Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics as independent states. Biden has been criticized for imposing lackluster sanctions against Moscow, as harsher measures were expected.
In the meantime, the Russian stock market is closed for the holidays, while 1 USD is trading near 80 RUB:
Among sanctioned entities in the US list were VEB Bank, its subsidiaries, and Promsvyazbank. Several members of the Russian elite connected with the children of high-ranking Russian officials were also put on the list.
According to the White House, this is merely a "first trance" of measures meant to deter the Kremlin from launching a full-scale invasion. Russian president Putin has claimed that he does not plan to deploy Russian "peacekeepers" to the breakaway regions of Eastern Ukraine at this moment.
Daleep Singh, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, told journalists in Washington that the sanctions were only the beginning of the US response to the unfolding Russian invasion.
Germany has halted the certification process of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, putting the $11 billion project that would expand Russia's power in the EU energy sector in jeopardy. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has later cancelled his scheduled meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin was also not an option, the White House's press secretary Jen Psaki said. The meeting was originally announced on Friday at the initiative of France.
