Obama Sanctions Putin's 'Cronies' as Russia Moves to Annex Crimea

President Barack Obama announced a new set of sanctions on Russian officials on Thursday during a brief address on the White House South Lawn.

“We are today sanctioning a number of individuals with substantial resources and influence,” Obama said, announcing his third executive order targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin's government this month.

"Russia must know that further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community," Obama said.

Twenty Russian individuals are now on the U.S. sanctions list, which includes a number of Russian government officials, aides and what one senior U.S. official called "cronies" on a call with reporters shortly after Obama's address. It includes the Rotenberg brothers, billionaires who benefited tremendously from the Sochi Olympics earlier this year, a man rumored to be "Putin's personal banker," and Andrei Fursenko, President Putin's aide. Read more...