National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. The United States widened its sanctions against Russia Wednesday as G7 leaders prepared to gather in Italy for a summit where the top priorities will be boosting support for Ukraine and grinding down Russia’s war machine.
Russia’s military is “desperate for access to the outside world,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. On Wednesday the U.S sanctioned a Chinese state-owned defense company which officials said had shipped military equipment for use in the Russian defense sector. Beijing, Kluge said, is reluctant to stop a valuable trade is worth large amounts of money and it does not want to “add to the pressure on Putin in this war.”