US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday sanctioning the Russian defense industry. The order comes amidst a congressional deadlock over further US funding to Ukraine in their ongoing war against Russia.

The most recent executive order (EO) is an amendment to two orders: EO 14024 “Blocking Property With Respect To Specified Harmful Foreign Activities of the Government of the Russian Federation” and EO 14068 “Prohibiting Certain Imports, Exports, and New Investment With Respect to Continued Russian Federation Aggression.” Biden noted that the new executive order comes in response to Russia’s “continued use of its military-industrial base to aid its effort to undermine security in countries and regions important to United States national security.”

Specific goods which are sanctioned include mined products such as diamonds, and seafood fished in Russia and processed in a third country into a new product. The sanctions do not affect US companies that transact in Russian-made goods outside the US. The sanctions only prohibit the importation of Russian-made goods into the US.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that the new executive order will sanction financial institutions that are:

(1) facilitating significant transactions on behalf of persons designated for operating in certain key sectors of the Russian economy that support the country’s military-industrial base; or (2) facilitating significant transactions or providing services involving Russia’s military-industrial base, including those relating to specific manufacturing inputs and technological materials that Russia is seeking to obtain from foreign sources. This [EO] also authorizes Treasury to prohibit the importation of products that have been processed or substantially transformed in third countries, such as Russian seafood and diamond products.

Yellen also stated that the new executive order “solidifies the U.S. commitment to the G7 Leaders’ Statement making clear to foreign financial institutions that facilitating significant transactions relating to Russia’s military-industrial base may expose them to U.S. sanctions.”

According to a press statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the new sanctions will “make clear to foreign financial institutions that facilitating significant transactions relating to Russia’s military industrial base will expose them to sanctions risk.”

The US continues to support Ukraine in the war against Russia, despite a congressional deadlock over providing Ukraine with further funding. The Biden administration has turned to other avenues, such as executive actions. Most recently, the Treasury Department and State Department announced coordinated sanctions against over 200 individuals and entities designed to target Russia’s war capabilities in the ongoing war in Ukraine.