The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Ukrainians, a Russian and nine entities in Ukraine and Russia for reasons including the annexation of Moscow to the Crimea, the Treasury Department said.
The ministry said in a statement on its website that one of the entities covered by the sanctions, the company 's Project Limited Liability Limited, is linked to the Bank of Russia and Russian businessman Yuri Kovolchuk.
In a statement, the State Department said in a statement Thursday that sanctions were aimed at "supporting Russia's efforts to try to integrate the Crimea through private investment, privatization of projects and those involved in human rights violations" to strengthen Russia's occupation or control of parts of Ukraine.
"The United States will not recognize the annexation of Crimea Russia," the statement said, adding that the United States would "stand by Ukraine and the European Union against Russia's illegal annexation of the territory."
