US Senate committee authorizes sanctions against Russia

The US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee has passed a bill authorizing sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials deemed by Washington to be guilty of corruption and responsible for violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, including visa bans and the freezing of their US accounts.

The bill condemns Russia’s “unjustified military intervention” in Crimea and approves $1 billion assistance in loan guarantees to the new Kiev authorities that grabbed power on the wave of anti-government protests in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych left Ukraine in February after a coup in his country. He told reporters in southern Russia on Tuesday that he remained the legitimate Ukrainian leader despite “an anti-constitutional seizure of power by armed radicals.” Russia considers Yanukovych the legitimate Ukrainian president.