Washington: The United States, together with the European Union and Canada, imposed new sanctions on more than a dozen Russian officials and businesses in response to the country’s “continued aggression in Ukraine.”

“The United States and our transatlantic partners will not allow Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine to go unchecked,” said Steve Mnuchin, the US treasury secretary on Friday, TASS reported.

“This joint initiative with our partners in the European Union and Canada reinforces our shared commitment to impose targeted and meaningful sanctions in response to the Kremlin’s attempts to disregard international norms and undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.

The sanctions lists includes Deputy Director of the Border Guard Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Gennadiy Medvedev, Head of the Service Command Point of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol Ruslan Romashkin, Head of the Coast Guard Unit of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Andrei Shein, Head of the Border Directorate of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Sergei Stankevich, as well as Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Alexey Naidenko, and secretary of the DPR Central Election Commission Vladimir Vysotsky.

Washington has also imposed restrictions on Russian companies Oceanpribor, Fiolent factory, Sudokomposite, New Projects, Consol-Stroy, Zvezda, Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant and Zelenodolsk Gorky Plant.

The US sanctions freeze all property and interests in property belonging to the designated individuals and entities, and prohibits US persons from transacting with them.

On Nov 25, 2018, three Ukrainian ships and 24 sailors attempting to sail through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov were seized by Russian forces for allegedly violating the Russian border.

Canada imposed sanctions on 114 people and 15 entities in response to Russia’s military action against the Ukrainian ships, while the EU sanctioned eight more Russians over the standoff.

The decision takes the number of people blacklisted by the bloc over the crisis in Ukraine to 170 persons and 44 entities.

The EU said its sanctions affected senior security service officials and military commanders accused of preventing Ukrainian ships from reaching port. (UNI)