Russia news: Joe Biden levies new U.S. sanctions but keeping them is up to Trump [Video]

WASHINGTON –

U.S. president Joe Biden’s administration announced Friday that it’s expanding sanctions against Russia’s critically important energy sector, unveiling a new effort to inflict pain on Moscow for its nearly 3-year-old war in Ukraine as president-elect Donald Trump gets set to return to office vowing to quickly end the conflict.

The outgoing Democratic administration billed the new sanctions as the most significant to date against Moscow’s oil and liquefied natural gas sectors, the driver of Russia’s economy. Officials said the sanctions, which punish entities that do business with the Russians, have the potential to cost the Russian economy upward of billions of dollars per month.

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More than 180 oil-carrying vessels that are suspected to be part of a shadow fleet utilized by the Kremlin to evade oil sanctions as well as traders, oil field service …