The US Treasury Department announced that the US and its economic allies would ban imports of Russian gold. New penalties will primarily target 70 Russian companies and other entities connected to the country’s defense industrial and manufacturing base.
Earlier, the Kremlin was reportedly ramping up gold production to blunt the impact of sanctions. The measures taken by the UK, Canada, Japan, and the US "will directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin's war machine," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
However, some analysts assume that this move will hardly affect Moscow. Peter Schiff, a global strategist at Euro Pacific Capital, is sure that there will be unpleasant consequences that are likely to strike the US but not Russia. "Once again, this will backfire. Joe Biden will hit Americans, not Putin, as it is Americans who will end up paying higher prices for gold. If anything, Biden just did Russia a favor."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the G7’s embargo on the import of Russian gold would cost the Kremlin nearly $19 billion in revenue per year. G7 nations voiced their decision on June 25. Later, Joe Biden said that the US would join forces with the EU.
