A senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said the dissection of Russian military equipment used in the Ukraine war frequently uncovers Western-made microchips.
Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins said she is “very confident” Australia and the U.K. will qualify to receive International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) exemptions from the U.S., a key requirement for the AUKUS trilateral security partnership.
U.S. agencies met with European officials at a “Sanctions Coordinators Forum” Feb. 14 in Brussels to “discuss impacts and enforcement of our Russia sanctions regimes," the State Department said in a news release. State, along with the Commerce and Treasury departments, met with senior EU and member state government officials and delegations from the U.K. and Ukraine on topics including “the use of targeted sanctions to deter and disrupt malign Russian activity and to demonstrate our readiness to take action to defend international norms.”
A new proposed rule from the Treasury Department could make investment advisers subject to certain anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act. The agency said the measures could close a loophole that allows sanctioned companies, including in China, to invest in U.S. companies and access sensitive technology.
DOJ this week completed the forfeiture of a U.S.-origin Boeing 747 after a monthslong effort to seize the plane from Mahan Air, a sanctioned Iranian airline.
Kristina Puzyreva, a Russian and Canadian national, pleaded guilty on Feb. 12 to conspiracy to commit money laundering for her role in a scheme to export unnamed aerial vehicle parts, guided missile system components and other weapons to sanctioned Russian entities, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. She faces up to 20 years in prison.
The U.K. will allow a general license involving the price cap on Russian oil to expire later this month, according to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The license, set to expire Feb. 18, authorizes the supply or delivery by ship of Russian crude oil and oil products below the $60 per barrel price cap. The U.K. didn't provide more information.
The EU General Court on Feb. 7 dismissed sanctions removal applications from Russians Alisher Usmanov and Igor Shuvalov, according to an unofficial translation.
The Treasury Department last week released its 2024 money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risk assessments, highlighting areas where companies can focus compliance resources and help “inform their own risk mitigation strategies.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned four entities and identified one vessel for violating the price cap on Russian oil. OFAC said they were involved in a “price cap violation scheme” in late 2023 that included making calls at Russian ports.