outsidevoices.substack.com 
During a visit to Brussels for the NATO summit on Thursday, President Joe Biden unveiled his latest Russia sanctions package. Biden told reporters that the U.S. and the European Union had agreed to sanction more than 300 Russian lawmakers and oligarchs, as well as several Russian defense companies.
Over the past month, Russia has overtaken both Iran and North Korea to become the most sanctioned country in the world. Some of the measures adopted by the U.S. and its European allies include the freezing nearly half of the Russian central bankâs $640 billion financial reserves, expelling several of Russiaâs largest banks from the SWIFT global payment system, imposing export controls aimed at limiting Russiaâs access to advanced technologies, closing down their airspace and ports to Russian planes and ships, and instituting personal sanctions against senior Russian officials and high-profile tycoons.
Multinational corporations have joined Western governments in cutting economic ties with Russia. Since the start of the Kremlinâs military campaign in Ukraine on February 24, more than 450 companies ranging from Apple to McDonalds have shut down their operations in Russia, according to a database compiled by Yale Universityâs Chief Executive Leadership Institute…
