The House Foreign Affairs Committee on May 22 approved bills that could expand controls on artificial intelligence exports and increase congressional oversight of arms transfers to Israel.
The U.N. Security Council this week sanctioned three people with ties to the Somalia-based al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida linked terrorist group. The designations target Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, Mohamed Mohamud Mire and Mohamed Omar Mohamed.
Canada this week announced another round of sanctions against Russia, targeting two people and six entities that the country said have helped ship weapons, missiles and other military items from North Korea to Russia. Canada said it has “recorded evidence” that the Kremlin used the weapons in its war against Ukraine last year and this year. The two people designated are “senior representatives of Russian enterprises that are closely linked” to the Russian military, and the entities are Russian shipping companies that own or operate planes and cargo vessels that were used to transport the weapons.
U.K. defense minister Grant Shapps said he has evidence that China is supplying Russia with lethal aid for its war in Ukraine.
The U.K. this week issued a new warning to shipowners and brokers seeing large profits from selling older ships to unknown buyers, saying they need to make sure they aren’t selling to a person with ties to Russia or who plans to violate Russian oil sanctions.
The U.S. declined to prosecute a Massachusetts biochemical company that was part of an illegal export scheme involving China, the first time DOJ’s National Security Division has offered a corporate declination under its recently updated voluntary self-disclosure program.
The U.K. released various amendments to its sanctions regime last week, according to the Global Sanctions blog. The changes, which include May and June effective dates, bar sanctioned parties from acting as directors of British companies without a license; introduce new restrictions on imports of aluminum from Belarus; set new conditions for how sanctions violations can be investigated; and more.
A Russian court based in St. Petersburg on May 18 seized nearly $760 million of assets belonging to UniCredit, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, according to the Financial Times. A subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom, RusChemAlliance, had told the court that the three western banks must pay bank guarantees under a contract with German firm Linde. RusChemAlliance's contract with Linde, which concerned the construction of a liquified natural gas processing plant and production facility in St. Petersburg, was paused due to EU sanctions on the Russian company.
The European Council on May 21 adopted legal measures to allow profits earned on seized Russian assets to be used to support Ukraine, the council announced May 21. The decision applies specifically to net profits from "unexpected and extraordinary revenues accruing to central securities depositories" as a result of EU sanctions on Russia.
China has sanctioned Mike Gallagher, former Republican member of Congress from Wisconsin and former chair of the House Select Committee on China, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced May 21, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry said Gallagher has “frequently used words and deeds that interfere in China's internal affairs, undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and infringe on China's interests.” China said the sanctions will freeze Gallagher’s assets in the country, ban Chinese companies from doing business with Gallagher, and block him from entering the country.