The Obama administration formally stepped up its response on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine Thursday morning, with targeted visa restrictions and sanctions. A statement from the press secretary explains:
... today the State Department is putting in place visa restrictions on a number of officials and individuals, reflecting a policy decision to deny visas to those responsible for or complicit in threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. This new step stands in addition to the policy already implemented to deny visas to those involved in human rights abuses related to political oppression in Ukraine.
In addition, the President has signed an Executive Order that authorizes sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for activities undermining democratic processes or institutions in Ukraine; threatening the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine; contributing to the misappropriation of state assets of Ukraine; or purporting to assert governmental authority over any part of Ukraine without authorization from the Ukrainian government in Kyiv. This E.O. is a flexible tool that will allow us to sanction those who are most directly involved in destabilizing Ukraine, including the military intervention in Crimea, and does not preclude further steps should the situation deteriorate.
This means that the people deemed responsible for the threats to Ukraine's sovereignty or for human rights abuses could find their assets frozen and Americans barred from doing business with them, in addition to the visa restrictions. The strategy, apparently, is to build pressure on people who can in turn build pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
7:19 AM PT: Read the full White House press secretary's statement on Ukraine.
