- President Joe Biden will issue an executive order on Thursday authorizing the U.S. government to sanction any sector of the Russian economy and will use it to restrict Russia's ability to issue sovereign debt to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2020 U.S. election, senior Biden administration officials said.
Among the sanctions to be unveiled are the blacklisting of about 30 entities as well as orders expelling about 10 Russian officials from the United States, one person familiar with the matter said. Biden appears to be trying to strike a balance between defending U.S. national interests against Russia while making clear he would prefer to have a less volatile relationship and to cooperate on issues such as curbing Iran's nuclear program.
This official said the executive order authorized the U.S. government "to target any sector of the Russian economy," adding "we will not hesitate to expand the Russian sovereign debt sanction if Russia escalates further." Neither move, however, affects Russian sovereign debt traded in the secondary market, meaning that U.S. persons can continue to buy and sell such bonds there.