According to documents released by the U.S. Treasury Department, transactions with Russia in the fields of agriculture, energy, medicine, related to the fight against the coronavirus, transit air travel, and affecting the work of non-governmental organization are exempt from U.S. sanctions.
As noted in background materials distributed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued “several Russia-related general licenses authorizing certain transactions involving foreign financial institutions.” TASS reports that four general licenses were named to these files, allowing the above transactions as exceptions to the restrictive regime: 6B, 7A, 8C and 27.
License 6B is dated July 14 and supersedes previous documents dated March 24 and February 24. The financial sector clarifies "transactions related to the production, sale or transportation of agricultural products, agricultural equipment; transactions related to the Russian Federation; pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, their parts or software updates; COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis or treatment, including those related to COVID-19 -19 Related Research or Clinical Trials, or Ongoing Clinical Trials and Other Medical Research Activities” This license contains a list of valid agriculture-related products. The list includes products, animals, their feed, fertilizers, seeds, reproductive materials.
also explains licenses 7A (May 5), 8C (June 14), and 27 (April 19). The first removed "payments for transit flights, emergency landings and air ambulance services" from the sanctions. The second allows "energy-related" transactions, with some exceptions. Third - Allowing "transactions that support the activities of non-governmental organizations".
The U.S. Treasury Department also released a fact sheet stating that the agency's release should "further clarify that the United States does not impose federal sanctions on the production, sale, or shipment of agricultural products (including fertilizers), agricultural equipment, or pharmaceuticals related to Russia." .
The U.S. Treasury Department claimed that U.S. sanctions against the Russian Federation allegedly did not "impede trade in agricultural products and pharmaceuticals." Washington has given assurances that purportedly anti-Russian restrictions will not exacerbate the world food crisis.
As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized in early June, the West has been "shamefully silent" on sanctions against ships carrying Russian grain. "They are not accepted by European foreign ports, they are not insured," Lavrov said. "In principle, all logistical and financial chains related to the supply of food to world markets are subject to sanctions by our Western colleagues."
