US Senators Push to Block Russian Gold Reserve

According to the website of John Cornyn (R-TX), the U.S. senators will introduce the bill to the U.S. Congress intends to impose sanctions targetting the people involved in operations with gold from the Russian Central Bank reserve.

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According to Angus King, U.S. senator, Russia's gold reserve is one of Moscow's assets remaining intact after the package of sanctions imposed on the country after the launch of the special military operation on February 24.

"Russia has taken a page out of Venezuela’s book by exploiting a loophole in current sanctions [sanctions against Russian Central Bank] that allows them to launder money through the purchase and sale of gold," he said.

"Russia’s massive gold supply is one of the few remaining assets that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin can use to keep his country’s economy from falling even further. By sanctioning these reserves, we will further isolate Russia from the world’s economy and increase the difficulty of Putin’s increasingly-costly military campaign," said King (I-ME), co-author of the bill to be imposed.

The bill proposal wants to be included in the budget legislation, expected to be passed by Friday by the Senate.

Since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, many sanctions have been imposed on the country by European countries, but as well by the West, including the U.S. According to Washington, these sanctions are intended to limit Russia from using its currency reserves to support the Russian ruble.