Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., to hold hearings on the implications of the recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela, including the impact on U.S. sanctions policy.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., issued a statement Jan. 7 saying that he hopes there will be a vote on the Russia sanctions bill (see 2512190029 and 2601050050) "as early as next week."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week removed Kyriaki Demetriou Kamperi from its Specially Designated Nationals List after originally sanctioning him in 2023 for his Russia ties. The U.S. at the time said Kamperi was a "leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of" the Russian government and Russian bank Sberbank. The U.S. also said he had ties to companies owned by Christodoulos Georgiou Vassiliades, who was also designated for being a Sberbank executive. OFAC updated the SDN entry for the company Vassiliades & Co UK Limited to remove a reference to Kamperi.
The U.S. seized two vessels on the high seas Jan. 7 after saying they had violated U.S. sanctions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security reached a $1.5 million settlement this week with an international procurement company after its Shanghai affiliate admitted to illegally transferring low-level semiconductor equipment to a Chinese company on the Entity List.
The U.K. government is "unaware" of any British weapons or ammunition being illegally exported for the ongoing civil war in Sudan, Trade Policy Minister Chris Bryant said Jan. 6 in a written response to the U.K. Parliament.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the Trump administration Jan. 6 to consider sanctioning Faiq Zaidan, head of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, for helping Iran increase its influence over Iraq.
Switzerland announced this week that it has frozen assets held within the country by Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan leader captured by the U.S. earlier this month, along with the assets of "other persons associated with him." The country's Federal Council said the move is aimed at preventing "an outflow of assets."
President Donald Trump said Venezuela will soon turn over to the U.S. 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil, which will be sold at market price. The money from those sales "will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!" he said Jan. 6 in a Truth Social post.
China is tightening export controls over dual-use items destined for Japan, the country's Ministry of Commerce said this week, according to an unofficial translation. The measures, which China said are aimed at protecting national security and improving nonproliferation, prohibit exports of "all dual-use items to Japanese military users, for military purposes, and for any other end-user purposes that could enhance Japan’s military capabilities," the ministry said. Any person or any company "from any country or region" that violates the new controls, which took effect Jan. 6, "will be held legally liable."