The Biden administration is trying to maintain sanctions pressure while avoiding “a global economic catastrophe,” the agency says
The Biden administration is privately urging leading US banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup to continue doing business with strategic Russian firms despite sanctions imposed on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, people familiar with the issue told Bloomberg.
The requests have been made by the US Treasury and State Departments as the government tries to maintain pressure on Russia, but at the same time avoid “a global economic catastrophe,” the news agency reported on Monday.
Washington has been requesting services such as US dollar settlements, payment transfers, and trade finance for Russian firms that are exempt from certain aspects of the sanctions, including gas giant Gazprom and fertilizer producers Uralkali and PhosAgro, the sources said.
As a result, the largest American banks are currently being “caught in the push-pull” between the Biden administration and Congress, which insists on harsher measures against Moscow.
The sanctions prevent US banks from providing services to blacklisted entities and people, with violations punishable by multibillion-dollar fines.
Jamie Dimon the CEO of investment bank JPMorgan Chase was reportedly grilled at a congressional hearing in September over his company allegedly using loopholes in the sanctions regime to keep working with Russia. The banker responded by saying that “we are following the instructions of the American government as they asked us to do it.”
When addressed on the matter by Bloomberg, a Treasury spokesman said that it had issued guidance to banks, clarifying that activities in humanitarian aid, energy, and agriculture are authorized. JPMorgan and Citigroup have declined to comment.
“Congress needs to understand this - the US government has not imposed a comprehensive embargo with Russia, there’s still pockets of business that are allowed,” Nnedinma Ifudu Nweke, an attorney specializing in US economic sanctions at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, pointed out.
The Treasury “will continue to have meetings to educate banks on those pockets of allowable transactions, especially in the humanitarian space,” Nweke added.
https://www.rt.com/russia/566119-us-banks-sanctions-ukraine/
Gaza authorities have accused Israel of systematically stealing organs from Palestinian bodies, a disturbing act that underscores the regime’s ongoing brutality.
With the international community turning a blind eye, officials warn that such atrocities will continue as long as Israel remains immune to accountability for its war crimes.....more below
UG Solutions, a leading US military subcontractor that previously provided security for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and helped run Gaza’s deadly aid distribution system, is aggressively recruiting for a new round of deployments to the blockaded Palestinian territory, a media report says.
A former army officer who recently applied for a position told Drop Site that a UG Solutions official openly described plans for more than a dozen new aid sites in Gaza.
The officer further emphasized that the company was “going to need a lot more guys.”
Applicants are reportedly being told deployments could begin by December, with salaries of up to $1,000 per day plus per diem.
One recruit described interviews focused on weapons tests, “rules of escalation,” and questions about whether he would obey superiors regardless of past military rank. After multiple rounds of vetting, he was abruptly rejected......more below
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/11/20/759192/US--GHF-Gaza-Israel-
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran now considers the Cairo understanding with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) terminated, following the passage of an anti-Iran resolution at the agency’s Board of Governors.
The Board on Thursday narrowly approved the resolution drafted by the European Troika - France, Germany and the UK - and the United States—passing 19–3 with 12 abstentions—that urges Tehran to “without delay” report on its enriched uranium stockpile and facilities damaged in the June aggression by Israel and the US, while omitting any mention of Iran’s longstanding cooperation with the agency.
Araghchi condemned the move, calling the resolution “illegal and unjustified.” He said the measure was adopted “under pressure from these four countries” despite opposition or abstentions from 15 board members.
Araghchi said the action undermined the IAEA’s “credibility and independence” and would disrupt the agency’s cooperation with ...
