Despite the Christmas holiday, the US government decided to spoil the festive mood of its Russian colleagues. Ahead of the New Year, the US took a decision to extend the existing sanctions and update the sanctions list. In light of the Ukrainian conflict, most western countries imposed political and economic sanctions against Russia. First of all, they were targeted at some state-owned entities, banks, and individuals in power.
In mid-December, the EU officials agreed to prolong sanctions against Russia for another six months. After that, on December 22nd, the US introduced restrictions on another group of individuals and companies, including those operating in Crimea and collaborating with other sanctioned organizations, i.e. GenBank, Krayinvestbank, Interbank, Mosoblbank etc. According to the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the sanctions would not begin to roll back until Russia fully implements its commitments under the Minsk peace agreement.
However, the Russian nationals voice growing concern over Vladimir Putin’s announcement to tighten sanctions against the US in response. In general, the Russians are annoyed about the fact that sanctions imposed against most countries in the world have led to small salaries and high food prices.
