US official: New sanctions to target Russians in energy, banking

The next round of sanctions on Russia overthe Ukraine crisis could target senior officials in the energy and banking industriesstarting early next week, a senior White House official said Saturday.US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, speaking to reporters aboard AirForce One en route to Malaysia with President Barack Obama, said sanctions couldtarget "individuals with influence on the Russian economy, such as energy andbanking.""When you start to get at the cronies, the individuals who frankly control large partsof the Russia economy, and some of the entities under their control, you areimposing a significant economic impact beyond strictly sanctioning an individual,"he said.He did not give a date when the sanctions would be imposed, but said it would nothappen over the weekend."I would expect ... targeted sanctions would be imposed with urgency" and couldcome "early next week."Earlier a US official told AFP that the new round of US sanctions could come as early as Monday.Rhodes spoke after the Group of Seven rich countries -- Canada, France, Germany,Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States -- agreed Saturday to impose newsanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.The G7 nations, in a joint statement, gave no date but said they would "move swiftlyto impose additional sanctions on Russia."A senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said thateach of the G7 countries "will determine which targeted sanctions they will impose."These sanctions will be coordinated and complementary, but not necessarilyidentical. US sanctions could come as early as Monday," the official said.On Air Force One, Rhodes spoke of "a spectrum of sanctions" that "allows us toescalate further" if the situation in the ex-Soviet republic deteriorates further.Obama on Friday said that new sanctions against Russia were "ready to go" butsignalled they would not target key areas of the Russian economy such as mining,energy and the financial sectors.US officials have said those measures would only be considered if Russia sent itsregular forces across the border into eastern Ukraine."We understand there is unease about the economic consequences of sanctions on alarge economy like Russia ... There is a degree of unease in the private sector,"Rhodes said.