According to the statement by the US Department of the Treasury, Putin and Lavrov are directly responsible for Russia s unprovoked and unlawful further invasion of Ukraine, a democratic sovereign state.
<p><span>Today, the United States, in coordination with allies and partners, continued to forcefully respond to Russia’s unjustified, unprovoked, and premediated invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, as well as other members of Russia’s Security Council. This builds on other sweeping actions that the United States and partners took earlier this week targeting the core infrastructure of the Russian financial system, including sanctions against Russia’s largest financial institutions, restricting the ability of the Government of the Russian Federation to raise capital, and cutting it off from access to critical technologies. Cumulatively, these actions impose unprecedented diplomatic and economic costs on Russia and further isolate it from the global financial system and international community.</span></p>
In a rare move, the US has slapped sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, holding them "directly responsible" for Moscow's "unprovoked and unlawful" invasion of Ukraine.