WASHINGTON, March 25. /TASS/. The United States and the European Union are going to announce deeper collaboration to combat the use of digital assets for evasion of sanctions on Russia, US President Joe Biden and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement released by the White House.
"We intend to announce deeper collaboration to combat the illicit use of digital assets, including their potential misuse in evading multilateral sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine," according to the statement.
The parties will share their best practices and coordinate capacity building efforts to help other countries implement anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism frameworks for digital assets, the leaders said.
"We intend to form a transatlantic sprint between U.S. and EU government officials and, as appropriate, digital asset service providers, to expedite and increase sharing of financial intelligence on illicit use of digital assets. Finally, we will seek opportunities for joint actions against those who facilitate the misuse of digital assets for illicit activity," the joint statement provides.
The United States and the European Union intend to create a joint energy task force.
"We reconfirm our commitment to Europe’s energy security and to accelerating the global transition to clean energy. Energy security and sustainability for the EU and Ukraine are essential for peace, freedom and democracy in Europe," the document says.
"The EU has confirmed its objective to reach independence from Russian gas well before the end of the decade while working to ensure reliable, affordable, and clean energy supplies to citizens and businesses in the EU and its neighborhood. The United States intends to partner with the EU on these efforts," the two leaders said in their statement.
"We understand that the rapid transition to clean energy is essential to advancing EU independence from Russian fossil fuels and are committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, the objective of net zero emissions by 2050, and keeping a 1.5 degrees Celsius limit on temperature rise within reach. In line with this vision, the European Commission and United States will establish a joint Task Force to address the immediate energy security needs of the EU and accelerate the clean energy transition," according to the statement.
The United States and the European Union are working on limiting Russia’s ability to use its remaining international reserves.
"The United States and the European Union are jointly working to blunt Russia’s ability to deploy its remaining international reserves, including gold, to prop up its economy and fund its illegal war," the two leaders said in their joint statement.
They also confirmed "establishing an initiative to monitor the full implementation of our sanctions measures and coordinate responses against sanctions evasion." According to leaders, "this will ensure that Russia will not be able to backfill or find workarounds that undermine the effect of our sanctions."
The United States announced an economic war against Russia threatening to completely ruin bilateral relations but the countries are still able to come to terms when observing mutual respect principles," official spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.