The US has announced on Monday that it’ll prohibit American dollar transactions with the Russian central bank and fully block the Russian direct investment fund.
A senior administration official said the steps are meant to prevent Russia from accessing a “rainy day fund” that Moscow might rely upon during the invasion of Ukraine.
Instead of using the reserves to buffer a plummeting ruble, Russia will no longer be able to access the funds it keeps in US dollars.
No country is sanction proof,” a White House official said.
“Putin’s war chest of $630 billion in reserves only matters if you can use it to defend his currency, specifically by selling those reserves in exchange for buying the ruble.”
“After today’s actions that will no longer be possible, and fortress Russia will be exposed as a myth.”
