Future sanctions over President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine must focus on depriving Putin of what he needs to fund and fight the war: revenue from Russia’s oil and gas sales and access to global supply networks to replenish his military, two architects of the Biden administration’s sanctions campaign told lawmakers on Wednesday. While calling for stronger action against Russia, the State and Treasury department officials appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee faced complaints from both Democrats and Republicans that the first rounds of sanctions did not hit Moscow as hard or fast as the administration had forecast. “What we were told was these were going to be the toughest sanctions ever on a country. That they were going to have certain impacts,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, recounting early predictions from administration officials that the sanctions would plunge the country into recession, send the value of the ruble plunging, and trigger unrest among Russians. "And we have not seen the full impact that was described to us. “The frustration is we know that while we're playing the long game, Ukrainians are dying,” Shaheen added. Putin has vowed to press his offensive in Ukraine despite battlefield losses to motivated and NATO-supplied Ukrainian forces. Within the past week, Russia has started calling up hundreds of thousands of civilian men to replenish its depleted forces in Ukraine and held sham referendums in Russian-occupied territory, as an expected prelude to claiming those lands for Russia. In response to those referendums, the U.S. and its allies are preparing new sanctions that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday would impose a “severe economic cost on Russia when they move forward with annexation.” Senators and the two Biden administration officials — Elizabeth Rosenberg, an assistant Treasury secretary, and James O'Brien, head of the State Department's sanction coordination office — focused Wednesday on additional penalties aimed at making it impossible for Russia to keep prosecuting the war. Adroit financial management by Russian officials and, above all, billions of dollars of windfall profits from oil and gas exports have buffered the impact of the sanctions imposed by the United States and about 30 other nations. Sanctions so far have targeted Russia's financial institutions, businesses, military and high-tech industries, and thousands of officials and other members of the Russian elite. Rosenberg told lawmakers that Russia should be in fiscal deficit by the end of the year. But Russia's currency is managing far better than the U.S. projected, and its inflation and stock market troubles aren't out of line with other countries', in a rough year overall for the world's economy, Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, pointed out. “It wasn't as crippling as we thought on Russia,” Romney said of the international sanctions, which, with arms supplies for Ukraine, form the core of the West's support for Ukraine. That might serve as a cautionary lesson when the U.S. considers sanctions in the future, Romney argued. Rosenberg stressed that the U.S. should be “laser-focused” on starving Russia of the energy profits that are keeping the war and its economy going. Russia is a leading global exporter of oil and natural gas. U.S. and European officials are rushing to complete plans for a system of price caps on Russian maritime oil exports. The system would be designed to keep Russian oil on the world market, to avoid driving up prices even higher, while forcing down the price that Russia gets for its exports. Next in importance, the sanctions officials said, was doubling down on the global arms procurement networks Russia is using to replenish its weapons and technology for the war in Ukraine. Already, Russia is fielding older and older equipment on the battlefield, turning to Iran for drones, and, reportedly, cannibalizing commercial high-tech to keep military hardware running, O'Brien said. Lawmakers and the sanctions officials also talked of better coordinating existing U.S. and European Union sanctions to close loopholes, of unspecified future measures against Russia's “soft power,” and of sanctions on human rights abusers in the Russian military. “We appreciate what you do,” Sen. James Risch, an Idaho Republican and ranking member of the committee, told the sanctions organizers. “We want you to double your efforts in this regard. Because you're the ones that can really help bring this thing to an end.”

Global stock markets were mixed Friday after Western governments promised new sanctions on Russia and President Vladimir Putin tried to prop up Moscow’s sinking ruble by threatening to require Europe to use it to pay for gas exports. London and Shanghai declined while Tokyo gained and Frankfurt was little-changed. Oil fell but stayed above $110 per barrel. Wall Street futures declined a day after gaining as the number of Americans applying for unemployment fell to a 52-year low. Western leaders meeting Thursday in Brussels promised more sanctions. President Joe Biden said they were meant to “increase the pain” on Putin, but the leaders released no details of possible new penalties. Putin threatened to require European customers that rely on Russia gas supplies to pay in rubles. That would increase demand for the Russian currency, pushing up an exchange rate that has slumped under sanctions. Read: Asian shares mostly lower as crude slides to $100 per barrel European leaders on Thursday rejected that possibility, potentially setting up a clash over energy supplies. Putin’s demand is a “cunning gambit” to frustrate sanctions while “elevating uncertainty for the West,” said Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank in a report. In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London fell 0.2% to 7,454.92 and the DAX in Frankfurt was off less than 0.1% at 14,267.95. The CAC in Paris sank 0.1% to 6,550.00. On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index gained 0.2%. That for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%. On Thursday, the S&P 500 gained 1.4% and the Dow added 1%. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.9%. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.2% to 3,212.24 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.1% to 28,149.84. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 2.5% to 21,404.88. Read: Yet another 4-decade inflation high is expected for February The Kospi in Seoul was little-changed at 2,729.98 while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 7,406.20. India’s Sensex lost 0.8% to 57,152.53. New Zealand, Singapore and Bangkok advanced while Jakarta declined. Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine sparked investor unease about the impact on prices of oil, gas, wheat and other commodities. Russia is the second-biggest crude exporter and both Moscow and Ukraine are major wheat suppliers. Markets already were on edge about plans by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to fight surging inflation by rolling back ultra-low interest rates and other stimulus that is pushing up stock prices. Oil prices are up more than 50% in 2022 due to worries about inflation and possible supply disruptions. Benchmark U.S. crude lost $2.02 to $110.32 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.59 on Thursday to $112.34. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, sank $1.78 to $113.52 per barrel in London. It lost $2.57 the previous session to $119.03 a barrel. The dollar declined to 121.54 yen from Thursday’s 122.26 yen. The euro gained to $1.1021 from $1.0997.

The ruble plunged to a record low of less than 1 U.S. cent and most global stock markets declined Monday after Western nations moved to block some Russian banks from a global payments system. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused markets to swing wildly, given the potential impact on inflation, energy supplies and other economic repercussions. Putin's order that Russian nuclear weapons stand at increased readiness to launch ratcheted up tensions with Europe and the United States and revived dormant fears from the Cold War era. The Russian central bank raised its key rate to 20% from 9.5% in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting ruble and prevent a run on banks. That brought a temporary reprieve for the Russian currency, which bounced back to the level it was at last week, but only briefly. Also read: Asian shares, US futures fall as Ukraine conflict deepens The ruble has plunged more than 30% after the move to block Russian banks from the SWIFT payments system. The sanctions include restrictions meant to crimp the Russian central bank’s access to over $600 billion in reserves and hinder its ability to support the ruble. A weaker ruble is expected to cause inflation to surge, potentially angering Russians whose budgets will be stretched by soaring prices. It will also add to strains across Russia's financial systems. Germany's DAX fell 2.1% to 14,263.95 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 2.3% to 6,595.83. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 1.7% to 7,365.29. In New York, the future for the S&P 500 was 1.6% lower and that for the Dow industrials declined 1.3%. Also read: World shares up, US futures sink as Russia moves toward Kyiv On Friday, the S&P 500 climbed 2.2%, notching its first weekly gain in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.5% and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.6%. The Russell 2000 index rose 2.3%. The end of the month usually brings a raft of economic data, but for now the conflict is eclipsing other issues. “It’s all about the Russia-Ukraine situation and evolutions in that situation will drive market sentiment and direction,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a commentary. “President Putin will now have to accept that the ‘Western’ powers are prepared to accept quite a bit of economic pain now to punish Russia,” he said. Markets in Asia appeared to take the latest developments more calmly. Japan's Nikkei 225 index recovered from earlier losses to edge 0.2% higher to 26,526.82. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.2% to 22,713.02. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.3% to 3,462.31. The Kospi in Seoul climbed 0.8% to 2,699.18, while in Sydney the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% to 7,049.10. Although Asia is unlikely to suffer direct damage from the war in Ukraine, higher energy prices are an unwelcome burden for oil-importing nations like Japan, especially while they are still struggling to recover from the pandemic. Underscoring deepening rifts due to the conflict, BP said Sunday it was exiting its 19.75% share in Rosneft, a state-controlled Russian oil and gas company, which it has held since 2013. That stake is currently valued at $14 billion. Oil prices surged Monday, with U.S. benchmark crude up $4.33, or 4.7%, at $95.92 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $1.22 to 91.59 per barrel on Friday. Brent crude gained $4.20 to $98.32 per barrel, up 4.5% and approaching the $100 per barrel level it breached last week. The Ukraine conflict has heaped uncertainty atop other worries over interest rates and inflation. The U.S. Federal Reserve has suggested it will raise short-term interest rates next month by double its usual increase, the first rate increase since 2018. Higher U.S. rates tend to put downward pressure on all kinds of investments, and can have global repercussions. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 115.61 Japanese yen from 115.77 yen. The euro rose to $1.1165 from $1.1157.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev speculated that Russia may nationalize property of people registered in the US, the EU and other unfriendly jurisdictions amid new anti-Russian sanctions. He noted that Russia is being threatened with arrests of assets of Russian citizens and companies abroad - "just like that, without any sanctions," "in a carpet fashion," "out of spite." According to the politician, "this must be responded to in a quite symmetric manner." "With arrest of assets of foreigners and foreign companies in Russia based on country principle. And maybe, with nationalization of property of people registered in unfriendly jurisdictions. Like the EU, EU member states and a number of singing-along states of the Anglo-Saxon world that will take part in this," he said on his VK page Saturday. Read: Fleeing to the border: Some 120,000 Ukrainians seek refuge "Thankfully, we have vast experience and we have a law on this issue. A harsh one," Medvedev added ironically. "So the most interesting stuff only begins…" Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population. Read: Around 200 Bangladesh citizens reach Poland, Romania from Ukraine: Shahriar A number of states, including Western one, announced harsh sanctions against Russia. The EU imposed financial and technological sectoral restrictions against 64 key Russian agencies, including the Presidential Administration, Russian Defense Ministry, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and other state structures, as well as companies of military industrial, energy, plane building and financial sectors of Russia. These states also blacklisted a number of Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian citizens.