US Lawmakers Introduce A Bill To Sanction Russian Gold  

Four US senators are launching a measure to slap penalties on Russia’s gold. “This bill would discourage the acquisition of Russian gold and plug a loophole that permits the Russian Federation to mitigate the financial effect of sanctions,” the senators said. “By penalizing these reserves, we may further isolate Russia from the global economy and make Putin’s increasingly expensive military war more difficult.”  

The “Stop Russian Government and Oligarchs from Limiting Democracy (Stop Russian GOLD) Act” was introduced by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Angus King (I-ME) on Tuesday.  

“Sanctions imposed by the free world are wreaking havoc on Russia’s economy — and we must maintain the pressure as long as Putin continues his heinous invasion,” Senator King tweeted. Senators Cornyn, Hassan, and Hagerty have joined him in calling for “sanctions on Russia’s gold reserves.”  

He explained in a tweet: One of the few remaining assets that Putin may utilize to prop up his country’s economy is its gold supply. We may further isolate Russia from the global economy by penalizing these reserves, making Putin’s more costly military effort more difficult.  

“Russia has copied Venezuela’s playbook by exploiting a gap in current sanctions that permits them to launder money through the acquisition and selling of gold,” Senator Cornyn said.  

“The Russian Federation is acquiring gold to counteract the depreciation of its currency, the ruble,” the senators added, “and then selling that gold on foreign markets in return for high-value cash.”  

“Anyone interacting with or transferring gold from Russia’s central bank reserves, or selling gold physically or electronically in Russia” would face secondary sanctions, according to the notification; the secondary sanctions included in this bill would discourage the acquisition of Russian gold and address a loophole that now permits the Russian Federation to mitigate the financial effect of sanctions.  

“These bipartisan secondary sanctions on Russia’s gold transactions would build on the Biden administration’s recent Russia sanctions, further choking off Russia’s economy from the capital,” Senator Hagerty said.  

Earlier, Visa and Mastercard, two of the world’s largest payment processors, have imposed sanctions against Russia for its military invasion of Ukraine.

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