Home › World › US sanctions hit Gagauzia governor and foreign banks
US sanctions hit Gagauzia governor and foreign banks
Summary
A look back at the measures Washington announced on 12 June 2024 against a Moldovan regional leader and financial institutions dealing with Russia.
What did Washington target on 12 June 2024? Two separate sets of measures, one aimed at a regional leader in Moldova and the other at foreign banks doing business with Russian entities.
The United States imposed sanctions on Evghenia Guțul, the pro-Russian governor of Moldova's Gagauzia region. The move was reported as part of Moldova–United States relations.
On the same day, the United States expanded secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that had conducted business with more than 4,500 US-sanctioned Russian entities. The step widened the reach of American measures beyond Russian entities themselves to the foreign banks dealing with them.
A border measure two days earlier
The regional picture also included developments on the European Union's border with Belarus. On 10 June 2024, Poland announced a "no-go zone" in the Białowieża Forest, intended to prevent migrants from crossing the border from Belarus. In response, concerns were raised about the potential impact on tourism during the summer.
Taken together, the reports from 10 and 12 June 2024 show pressure being applied on several fronts in Ukraine's neighbourhood: sanctions targeting a Moldovan regional official, a wider net for banks linked to Russian entities, and a border restriction on the Polish side of the frontier with Belarus.
