U.S., German treasury ministers discuss how to prevent Russia from circumventing sanctions

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen met with her German counterpart Christian Lindner on Friday to discuss countering Russia's evasion of Western sanctions imposed on it over its war against Ukraine.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury reported this, Ukrinform says citing Reuters.

It is noted that Yellen and Lindner met on the sidelines of a meeting of finance ministers and heads of national banks of the G7 member states in the Japanese city of Niigata, where U.S. officials called for doubling support for Ukraine.

Secretary Yellen expressed appreciation for Germany's close coordination on implementing sanctions against Russia and discussed the importance of aligning efforts to counter sanctions evasion, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.

The United States and a broad coalition of other countries have provided significant economic, security, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, they have used sanctions and export controls to impose heavy economic costs on Russia for its war.

Yellen told reporters that the restrictions imposed have systematically degraded Russia's military-industrial complex and helped reduce the revenues that Russia could use to finance its war. According to her, Washington and the coalition have been focused this year on countering Russia's efforts to avoid these sanctions.

At the meeting with Lindner, Yellen emphasized the importance of building a clean, safe, and sustainable global energy supply chain. She also reaffirmed her country’s commitment to a strong global tax cooperation, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said.

As reported, a meeting of G7 member states’ finance ministers and heads of national banks is taking place in the Japanese city of Niigata on May 11-13.