OREANDA-NEWS  US President Joe Biden on Friday, amid a lack of progress on the issue of coordinating the White House's request for new assistance to Kiev, intends to sign a decree aimed at strengthening sanctions against Russia in the financial sector, a senior administration official said.

"President Biden intends to sign a new executive order that will strengthen U.S. sanctions against Russia by focusing on financial intermediaries," the official said during a special briefing.
According to a White House spokesman, the new tool will allow the United States to "pursue financial institutions" that cannot make a choice: allow their companies to take actions that can be regarded as assistance to the Russian military-industrial complex, or stop interacting with Russia.

For the first time, as the official pointed out, the United States can use "secondary sanctions" to prosecute financial institutions that promote the capabilities of the Russian Federation to create weapons that are used during its military operations.